Re: KLBC: 'Iv & nuq

["William H. Martin" <whm2m@server1.mail.virginia.edu>]

On Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:44:52 -0800 (PST) John Halliday 
<sniper@t-kagin.net> wrote:

> Is it possible for the words {'Iv} and {nuq} to be used in sentences
> that are not questions?  I'm trying to translate Abbot and Costello's
> 'Who's on first' sketch (yes I know, I'm being silly again), and the
> comedy value rapidly deteriorates if {'Iv} and {nuq} can only be used as
> questions.

Not to dull your enthusiasm, but this has already been done. It 
was even PERFORMED to an enthusiastic crowd, rolling in the 
isles and making appropriate sacrifices, breaking things and 
subsequently paying for them.

Krankor and Seqram played it, though they ditched the baseball 
game and made it the crew of Seqram's new Bird of Prey. "Who is 
the navigator?"

"Yes."

And so began one of the most beautiful performances restored to 
its original Klingon.

Changing the setting to the crew of a ship solved a lot of the 
problems you'll have with a baseball game.

Others comments have already addressed most of your concerns. 
Since as question words, {'Iv} and {nuq} are both placed in 
sentences as if they were nouns in statements, and since those 
same words used as people's names would appear in the same place 
in identical statements, the joke works perfectly.

charghwI' 'utlh