RE: KLBC: Subordinated Phrases

["Eric Andeen" <eandeen@hotmail.com>]

jatlh Clayton Cardoso:

>KLBC
>How can I write these phrases in Klingon?

To make this more interesting for everyone, I'm not going to tell you how to 
translate each of these phrases. Instead, I will explain the relevant 
grammatical constructions, and then you can give these phrases a try 
yourself.

>Ann kills the woman that Bob loves.
>Ann kills the woman that loves her.
>Ann kills who loves Bob.
>Ann kills who Bob loves.

The tool here is the verb suffix <-bogh>. This suffix can usually be 
translated as "which", "that", or "who". A <-bogh> clause (also called a 
relative clause) modifies a noun - usually the subject or object of the main 
clause. For example: <paq vIlaDbogh> - "the book that I read"; <qetbogh be'> 
- "the woman who runs" or "the running woman".

If a <-bogh> clause has two nouns (like <puq qIpbogh yaS>), then you have to 
decide which one is the "head noun" - the noun which is modified by the 
clause. You can usually tell from context. Also, if either noun is marked 
with the suffix <-'e'> or another type five suffix, then it is the head 
noun. For example: <puq qIpbogh yaS'e'> - "the officer who hit the child"; 
<puq'e' qIpbogh yaS> - "the child who was hit by the officer". See TKD 6.2.3 
for more information.

>The hot water burns Paul.
>The beautiful woman uses the clothes.

For this sort of thing, you could also use a <-bogh> clause, or you could do 
something simpler. A verb which "describes a state or quality" can be placed 
right after a noun and act like an adjective does in English. For example: 
<paq tIn> - "the big book"; <waq Doq> -"the red shoe". See TKD 4.4 for more 
on this.

>I drink the hot water you bring.
>The woman I like kills the stupid man.
>The hot water burns the woman I like.

These are just a relative clause plus a verb used as an adjective.

>I'm stronger than you.
>Here I'm the strongest.

Klingon has a very special formula for comparisons that is unlike other 
Klingon sentence structure. If you are comparing a quality Q for nouns A and 
B, to say "A is more Q than B", the formula is <A Q law' B Q puS>. To say "A 
is more Q than anything else", it's <A Q law' Hoch Q puS>. See TKD 6.6 for 
more on this.

You should be able to figure out how to translate your examples based on 
this. Give it a try and see how you do.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian


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