tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 01 15:41:43 1998
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Re: Beginner's questions
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Beginner's questions
- Date: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 15:38:06 -0700
At 17:26 98-05-31 -0700, qronaH wrote:
}qronaH 'oH pongwIj'e'. (Hope this is correct for "my name is..."
Quite right.
}even after reading the FAQ I am still confused).
Look at it this way:
In Klingon to say "X is Y" here Y is a noun and X is a pronoun, you say {Y X}.
For example: {tlhIngan jIH} "I am a Klingon" or {targh 'oH} "It is a targ."
If X is a noun, you still need to use a pronoun. It's as if English
required you to say "my pet, it is a targ" instead of just "my pet is a targ."
{targh 'oH SajwIj'e'} "My pet is a targ."
Clear anything up?
}Well that's as much as I can do in tlhIngan Hol right now. I now have to
}revert to DIvI' Hol to ask my questions.
}
}First, to help my understanding/learning of tlhIngan Hol, I am trying to write
}out all the phrases and words used in the tape Conversational Klingon. Finding
}most of the words and phrases is simple since the english is given making
}looking up the correct tlhIngan simple. However, I'm having trouble with the
}very beginning of the tape (the intro scene rendered in tlhIngan Hol...which
}starts out with "tujqu'choH QuQ"). While I understand some of the phrases
}uttered in the scene, I can't figure out most of the middle. Would anyone be
}able to write down the whole scene with its translation?
Time-honoured tradition says you give it your best shot, and we'll tell you
how you did. :> Besides, if I told you, I might get in trouble with
Voragh's union.
}My next question concerns using I (capital "i"). Is there a simple way to tell
}the difference between the upper case "i" and the lower case "L"? Since I have
}to look up almost every word in the email messages a simple way to figure out
}if I'm looking for an "i" or an "L" would be helpful. BTW I'm not trying to
}change the way its written, just looking for any tips that might help me tell
}which letter I'm looking at.
1. Change your mail program to use a font with serifs, Times Roman or System
work well. I believe that sans serif Klingon is never ambiguous, but
there's no need to torture yourself.
2. The only know Klingon syllable that starts with a vowel is the suffix
{-oy}, so no syllable ever starts with {I} (eye).
3. There are no consonant blends involving {l} (ell) in Klingon.
4. Regognize {tlh} as a unit.
5. There are no double vowels in Klingon.
That should completely cover it. If it's not the l in tlh, then if it's the
first letter in a word, it's an {l} (ell) and if the second, it an {I}
(eye). If it's after or before a vowel it must be an {l} (ell).
In my handwritten Klingon, {I} and {l} are indistinguishable and {'} is
often long enough to be confused with either. I like to write the following
chicken scratch. :)
tlhIl lI' lIlI'lI' jIllI' 'Il
"Your sincere neighbour was transmitting you guys useful minerals."
}Lastly, as a learning tool I would be very curious as to how this message
}would have looked written in klingon. If anyone is ambitious enough to
}translate it so that I may study it, it would be greatly appreciated.
It would change a lot. There would be lots of English words embedded
because we use English terms to discuss Klingon grammar. Polite
circumlocutions like "if ... I would appreciate it" would be replaced with
the imperative. It would also be shorter, as Klingon is more concise. To
start ...
}Well that's as much as I can do in tlhIngan Hol right now. I now have to
}revert to DIvI' Hol to ask my questions.
toH, laHwIjmo' tlhIngan Hol vIlo' DaH 'e' vImev. DaH jIgheltaHmeH DIvI' Hol
vIlo'nISchoH.
Literally: Well, I have to stop using Klingon now because of my ability.
Now I have to start using the Federation language in order to go on asking.
Qov [email protected]
Now on ICQ: 12235599