tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jun 07 00:21:05 1998
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RE: Satlho'
- From: "Eric Andeen" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Satlho'
- Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 00:19:18 -0700
- Importance: Normal
Voragh replied to Wolfgang Girke:
>>Qov, if qay' means "be a problem", it also should mean "problem". I ever
>>thaught in klingon's no word for "to be" so only "a problem" remains.
>Since Qov has just left on her vacation, I'll risk a grammatical comment.
DachtaHvIS Qov BG vIDa, 'ach qay'be'.
>That's not how {qay'} works. "Be X" verbs -- called "qualities" by Okrand
>and "stative verbs" by others -- are complete by themselves. Thus, {Doq}
"be
>red/orange" does not imply the existence of a noun *{Doq} (a "red"?). Your
>confusion comes is because of their idiomatic English translations:
sometimes
>it is "be" + adjective, like {Doq}, sometimes it is "be" + noun, like
{qay'}.
>If it helps, think of {qay'} as "be problematic", which is somewhat awkward
>and less colloquial in English. How does the German DOW translate the two?
{qay'} is not the easiest verb to get a handle on for English speakers. Here
are some examples:
qay' qepvam QIp. - This stupid meeting is a hassle (frequently heard Monday
mornings at my office).
DujlIjvaD qay' matHa'lI' tlhIb. - Your incompetent gunner is a problem for
your ship.
>>Olaf 'oH pongwIj'e' sounds better, but is it really klingon? The
>>klingon culture is a very direct one so I think a klingon would say "If
>>I say b'elanna jIH everyone knows b'elanna's my name exept he's Pakled".
>>I left "'" off "'oH".
>I agree with you, but a few on this list don't. Since Okrand has never
given
>us an example of a Klingon introducing him/herself by name, we're not quite
>sure how they do it. Until he does, some prefer not to risk making a
mistake
>and use the longer, but grammatically correct, "My name is Olaf" form, on
>the theory that this at least will always be understood by all Klingons.
Good advice. Despite ongoing arguments, all we really know is that {Olaf 'oH
pongwIj'e'} is definitely correct, and {Olaf jIH} might or might not be.
>>In my dictionary "Qapla'" is written "qapla'". One more reason not to
>>trust it and to learn klingon here!
>>(Please excuse if I made some mistakes. I'm just not the best in english.)
>More reason to start writing us in Klingon. Your English, however, is fine;
>there were a couple of small mistakes, but it was perfectedly
understandable.
>We should all speak Klingon so well (or German too, for that matter)!
If you can afford it, it might be a good idea to get hold of a copy of the
English version of The Klingon Dictionary. Your English is good enough that
it could help you avoid some of the mistakes in the German version.
tlhIngan Hol jabbI'ID yIqonqa'! bIghoj DaneHchugh bIqeqnISba'.
pagh
BG ru'