tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Apr 09 17:23:41 1999
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RE: KLBC: Is third time charm?
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: Is third time charm?
- Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 17:26:43 -0700
jatlh runa:
> This is the third time I've sent these sentences. They seem to have been
> disappearing.
cha'logh neH vIleghpu' jIH. This is only the second time I've seen them. I
was working on a reply when this message came.
> 1. I want to say "Taking our stand beneath the naked stars we fight
> the enemy on behalf of the empire."
> Hovmey Huv bIngDaq maQamvIStaH wo'vaD jagh wISuv
> Can the word Qam be used metaphorically in this way? Is it ok to
> use the suffix -vIStaH to express a participle?
I don't have any problem with <Qam> here - it's not even really much of a
metaphor since you probably *are* physically standing. Since <-taH> is type
seven and <-vIS> is type nine, they have to go the other way around:
<maQamtaHvIS>. Otherwise, this is fine.
> 2. "We fight the enemy for the empire (to sieze the empire)."
> wo' wIjonmeH jagh wISuv
maj.
> 3. "We are ready to fight the enemy who attacked us."
> nuHIv bogh jagh wISuvrup
maj.
> 4. "We are fighting the enemy because they attacked us."
> nuHIvmo' jagh DISuvtaH
You've gone from singular to plural here with <jagh>. It might be better to
stick with one or the other the whole way through. Do you think of yourself
fighting the whole group as a unit or the individuals? That will determine
whether you want to use <DISuv> or <wISuv>. Also, I don't think the <-taH>
is necessary here.
> 4a. "We are fighting because the enemy attacked us."
> nuHIvmo' jagh maSuvtaH
You could also use <maSuvchuq> instead of just <maSuv>.
> 5. "There was a battle to the death to capture the ships."
> Dujmey jonmeH Suvlu'chu'
This is grammatically fine, but I have to *who* was fighting. I think
<maSuvchu'> would probably better here.
> 6. "My friends and I took on the whole foreign fleet."
> Hur'Iq yo' Hoch DISuv jIH juppu'wI' je
<Hoch> gets treated as singular in Klingon, so the prefix should be <wI->
rather than <DI->.
> 7. "Why did you do that?" (in response to the above sentence)
> qatlh 'e' bonID
> I used nID, try, because I couldn't think of another way to say "do."
This is fine, but I would probably just ask <qatlh?> here for the whole
thing.
> 8. "If you drink too much of that white lightning will you be
> able to fight when the enemy comes?"
> chechtlhutlhvatlh Datlhutlhqu'chugh HIvDI' jagh bISuvlaH'a'
majQa'! I was prepared to be very annoyed when I saw something like <'ul
chIS>. This sentence works quite well.
> pItlh
maj.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian
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