tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 11 08:19:49 1998
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Re: KLBC: Praticing tlhIngan Hol
- From: Robyn Stewart <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: Praticing tlhIngan Hol
- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 08:20:28 -0700 (PDT)
[email protected] wrote:
>
> Well, I think I'm about ready for Klingon, so here goes.
You were ready to begin with, of course, but I can tell you've been
lurking a while. Consciously or subconciouly you've followed the
examples of a few things that have been posted recently. Some of the
other posters were beginners, too (and none of us is a real Klingon)
so there are some errors and some "we don't know"s. All my
corrections are "to the best of my knowledge" not gospel truths. The
section numbers cited are from the closest thing we have to gospel,
The Klingon Dictionary, which I guess you have.
> Datlh 'oH pongwIj'e'.
> My name is Dak.
qar. (correct). Most people learn this as an idiom right away. If
you understand how it is made from section 6.3, all the better.
> HoD jIHna'.
> I am a captain.
The suffix /-na'/ emphasizes your certainty that the noun it is
attached to really is that noun. It is sometimes probably okay to use
it on pronouns, but here the pronoun is acting as a verb, so it's as
much a no-no as putting any noun suffix on any verb. How does it act
as a verb? This is also in section 6.3. /jIH/ here carries the
meaning of the verb 'to be' as well as its regular duty as a pronoun.
You'll see this grammar referred to as pronoun-as-to-be or PTB, on the
list.
To say "I am a captain" say /HoD jIH/. If you want to emphasise
definiteness, you may use the type 6 verb suffix /-bej/ (section 4.2.6).
/HoD jIHbej/ - I am undoubtedly a captain.
> jISaH jIHna'.
> I am present.
The English here seems to be the same form as the sentence above, but
the grammar is quite different. In "I am a captain," you are saying
that one thing (you) "is" another thing (a captain). In "I am
present," you are saying that a thing (you) "is" a certain quality or
state, a verb describing you. In Klingon these two things are
expressed differently.
To say that something is a verb of state or quality, such as /SaH/,
you find the correct verb prefix (section 4.1.1) and put it on. Then
you can put the subject of the sentence after the verb (section 6.1).
The verbal prefix for "I-no object" is /jI-/. All the no object
prefixes are in the first column of the table.
So /jISaH/ means "I am present." If you want you can say /jISaH jIH?
"*I* am present," but the /jIH/ is quite optional (section 5.1).
> tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhtaHmeH
maj.
> Do'Hom tugh loQ jIpo'.
/Do'/ is sometimes a verb and here it is an adverb, but it's not a
noun, so you may not use the noun suffix /-Hom/ on it. If you really
need to say a _little_ luck, you could use the verb form of /Do'/ and
try, /loQ jIDo'chugh .../ "if I am a little lucky." But it's
probably not necessary to translate the little. After all, you are
meant to speak Klingon boldly, qar'a'? :)
> puqhommey vIghIj 'e' rut vIparHa'.
Don't forget to shift for the /H/ in /-Hom/. This sentence was
discussed at the time it first appeared. There is a question about
whether the adverb goes before or after the /'e'/. There is an
occurance in canon with it after, but logic seems to put it first.
The thread starts at:
/cgi-bin/mfs/1998/Aug98/0767.html and then gets
above the KLBC understanding level, and has a few unrelated threads,
too. Just be aware that this grammar is controversial, not model.
> QIpwI' vIDataHmo' puQ SoSwI'.
maj.
> noybogh Do' mu'mey Qav bIH'a'.
> With luck, not a lot of problems here.
Maybe a lookup error here. This sentence says something like "which
is famous the final words are lucky are they?" I see a problem with
using /Qav/ the way you tried using /SaH/ above, and a repeat of using
/Do'/ as a noun. Why don't you fix this sentence up based on what
you've learned here, and send it back to me.
You can also try translating these exercises into Klingon.
We are quiet.
You are an admiral.
He is the prisoner.
The prisoner is lazy.
They (objects) are blue.
You are idiots.
I am hungry.
> I know I made a mistake somewhere, I just don't know where or what...
Yep, but don't be discouraged. You can't expect to pick up perfect
Klingon just by reading the list a few weeks any more than you can
pick up perfect French just by watching subtitled movies. "They"
figured I wa good enough to be a Beginners' Grammarian and I still
learn new things I hadn't noticed every week.
Success!
==
Qov - Beginners' Grammarian
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