tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 22 19:20:58 1999
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Re: More than one "adjective"
Ben asked:
> How do you use more than one "adjective" for a noun? For example, what
> if I want to say "The big red ball"?
SuStel:
: The answer to this question lies in Klingon for the Galactic Traveler.
: Not having it with me, I cannot cite a page, but in the section on "Visual
: Arts," we get a little information about color words. Included,
: incidentally, is the answer to your question.
KGT p.82 has several examples:
SuD 'ej wov
(it) is SuD and light (a way to refer to a yellowish tinge)
SuD 'ach wov
SuD but light (also heard)
Doq 'ej beqpuj rur
(it) is Doq and resembles beqpuj (an orange mineral)
SuD Dargh 'ej wov
The tea is SuD and light.
SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh
The tea that is SuD and light.
> Would {moQ tIn Doq} work? Or can there only be one "adjective" per verb?
> Or do you need a {je} at the end or something? I'd hate to use {-bogh}
> if I didn't have to.
: You cannot have two adjectivally acting verbs next to each other. At
: least, not that we've ever seen.
:
: "The big red ball" would be {tInbogh moQ 'ej Doqbogh} "The sphere which is
: big and which is {Doq}" ({Doq} being the closest concept to "red.")
I'm a little unclear myself just how we would use these patterns in actual
sentences. For example, "I see Maltz's big, red ball."
matlh moQ tIn vIlegh; Doq.
I see Maltz's big ball; it's red.
So far, so good. Nice and terse, if a little odd to Terrans. Remember
Worf's classic TNG line: "Good tea. Nice house." This may be the simplest
Klingon style. I'm not sure about the {-bogh} method, however. (That may
be because I've always a little confused by {-bogh} and {-lu'}, especially
when they occur together!). Give me your opinions of:
tInbogh matlh moQ 'ej Doqbogh vIlegh. (?)
tInbogh matlh moQ vIlegh 'ej Doqbogh. (?)
I see Maltz's ball which is big and (which is) red.
Finally, a challenge for the experts. How would you translate a more
complicated example:
"I see Gowron and Pok's old, green, dirty bottle of excellent, ancient
Regulan bloodwine."
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons