tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 17 18:04:45 1999

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RE: KLBC: first post

jatlh Lor:

> Hello, this is my first post here.
> Ok, lets go:

Welcome to the list. You've obviously seen my intro, so here we go...

> De'wI' vIghun.

maj. De'wI' ghun tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI' law'.
Cool. Lots of Klingon speakers are programmers.

> QaQ'a' may ?  
If you meant <may'> - battle, there are better vocabulary choices. <Qu'> is
probably what you want. I'd also add a <-vam> or a <-wIj> to specify which
job you're talking about.

> QojnIS vumbe' SuvwI' 'e' jIQub !
Pretty good. You're trying to put to main verbs into the first sentence,
which you can't do without a conjunction. It would probably smoother,
though, if you just made two separate sentences. The first is <vumnISbe'
SuvwI' 'e' vIQub>. Note the prefix on <Qub>. The second sentence can just be
a simple <QojnIS>.

> jIyaj. wa'leS la'wI'  vIjatlh .
It sounds a bit like you're having a conversation with yourself... Also,
<pIn> is probably better for your boss than <la'>, unless your boss happens
to hold the rank of "commander" in the US Navy or a similar military
organization.

> This should mean: 
> "I do computer programs." "Is it a good job ? I think
> a warrior should fight, not work" "I see, tomorrow I'll
> talk to my boss"
And it very nearly does.

> And now something more serious:
>
> - 'Iw naQ vaj 'Iv ?
We'll deal with this one in two parts. First, <'Iw naQ vaj> doesn't quite
work for "blood covered warrior". Klingon for the Galactic Traveller (KGT)
explains that <vaj> is sort of the abstract idea of "warriorness"; an
individual warrior is <SuvwI'>. The notion of "covered in blood" is a bit
hard to express in Klingon, so I will suggest a few simpler alternatives:
<HoS>, <yoH>, <HoSghaj>, <quv>.

For "Who is that warrior?", you need to use the "pronoun as to be"
construction described in TKD 6.3: <'Iv ghaH SuvwI'vetlh'e'?>. If you add a
verb as an adjective, the <-'e'> migrates to that verb, as in <'Iv ghaH
SuvwI'vetlh yoH'e'?>.

> Daw'vaD De' nunoblaHlaw' .
The suffix <-vaD> means "for the benefit of", and he is not giving anyone
information "for the benefit of" the revolution - quite the opposite. What
he is giving you is information *about* the revolution, which is just <Daw'
De'>.

> - pe'vIl Suvpu'boch quv yoH je yaS, mutoDmeH.
<-meH> clauses need to go before what they modify, so put the <mutoDmeH>
before the verb <Suv>. Also, you're trying to say "He is an officer who has
fought ...", which is needlessly complex, even in English. Instead, try
"This officer has fought ...", which is a little simpler in English and a
lot simpler in Klingon:

pe'vIl mutoDmeH Suvpu' yaSvam ...

The other problem here is that you can't put both <quv> and <yoH> after the
noun as adjectives, and you can't use <je> as a conjunction to join them. If
you want to say "the brave and honorable officer", go with <yoHbogh yaS
quv>.

pe'vIl mutoDmeH Suvpu' yoHbogh yaSvam quv.

> Ha' jupwI' . majvaD biSov voDleH yaja' .

<Ha'> is more like "let's go", and doesn't work very well here. The last
sentence is a bit confusing, and a bit hard to do absolutely literally, so
I'll offer an alternative:

voDleHvaD may' yIDel. - "Describe the battle for the emperor".

> - Who is that warrior, covered with blood ? It looks
>   like he could inform us about the rebellion.
> - He is the brave and honored officer who strongly fight 
>   to save me. Alas, my friend. Say to the king what you
>   know about the battle.

maj. Good first post. Keep it up.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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