tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Nov 16 12:42:47 1997
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Re: introduce
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: introduce
- Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 12:42:34 -0800
At 08:09 97-11-16 -0800, KIljaH wrote:
}wlj pong 'oH KilJaH!
}
}I hope this is right. I am just starting with Klingon so I don't precisely
}know how it works yet. I hope this mailing list will help me.
That is EXACTLY what this mailing list is for and just going ahead and
trying to write Klingon is the way to learn. I am known here as Qov, and I
am now the designated "Beginners' Grammarian" which means it's my job to
leap enthusiastically at newcomers like yourself and guide you towards a
better command of the language.
The first step is to realize that the grammar section, the first part of The
Klingon Dictionary (TKD) is more important than the vocabulary section when
it comes to writing Klingon. The word order in Klingon is very different
than English, and so is the way the words are formed, but it's not too hard
to learn.
I'll go over your sentence:
}wlj pong 'oH KilJaH!
The syllable {-wIj} is a noun suffix, which means that the only way to use
it is to attach it to the end of a noun. {pong} "name" + {-wIj) "my" =
{pongwIj} "my name"
You are right that pronouns like {'oH} are sometimes used to mean "is" but
there is a special formula for that use. You can never translate word for
word between Klingon and English and expect it to make sense. The formula
to say "A is B" when A and B are both things, is {B 'oH A'e'}. So to say
"My name is KIljaH" you say {KIljaH 'oH pongwIj'e'}
Read through the grammar sections in TKD carefully. If it's too much to
digest all at once, try reading one section, then posting some examples of
what you have learned.
}I am a huge
}StarTrek fan and I am running my own StarTrek Play-by-E-Mail game and to
}make it a little more realistic I want to know some Klingon.
A good plan.
}If I am writing something in Klingon that is not right please let me know.
I will do that. Put the letters KLBC at the begiining of the subject of any
messages you want corrected, then I'll be sure to look at them.
}legh SoH,
You've taken an English expression and translated it word for word. "See
you" in English means what? It actually doesn't mean anything, it's just a
farewell, as we say "see you" to people we've just met by chance and never
expect to see again. Klingons, we are told, don't use such exclamations,
but if you wanted to translate the English expression you could translate "I
will see you again" -- I guess that is what see you means, right?
"I will see you again" in Klingon is {qaleghqa'} said to one person and
{Saleghqa'} said to more than one. Read sections 4.1.1 and 4.2.3 and see if
you can understand how that works.
Qov [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian