RE: KLBC

["Eric Andeen" <andeen@home.com>]

jatlh Chuck Nolan:

> I work in a metal plating plant and was injured. I wondered
> how a discription of what happened last Monday would sound
> in Klingon (I needed to practice), it was a serious accident
> and did not intend to make lite of it. To that extent, if
> anyone reads this I would add...Please wear safety glasses
> when required!

> poSwIj mIn riQ peymo' vaghHu'

The Klingon Dictionary is not very clear on this, but it is best to put
clauses with <-mo'> at the beginning of the sentence.  It may be just good
style, or it may be grammatically required. Timestamps like <vaghHu'> also
go at the beginning of the sentence.

For "my left eye", I would use <poS mInwIj> rather than <poSwIj mIn>,
although one could probably argue either way. Also, your eye is the thing
getting injured here, making it the subject of the sentence. Klingon
sentence order is object-verb-subject, so the subject must go *after* the
verb.

<rIQ> means "be injured", as in the state you (or whatever body part) is in
after suffering an injury. When I just about broke my toe a few months ago,
while I was limping around, I would say <rIQ yaDwIj>. To describe the event
where the toe or the eye *got* injured, I would use <rIQchoH>.

vaghHu' peymo' rIQchoH poS mInwIj.

> QaD juvmey vIvonlu'.

I see what you were going for, but there are a few problems. First, <juv> is
a verb meaning "to measure", as in using a yardstick or scale or voltmeter
to determine the physical characteristics of an object. The word "measures"
you are using is a completely different thing. Also, <vonlu'> is actually a
slang expression (or maybe an idiom) meaning, literally, to be captured. You
really can't "be captured ... something." I'd suggest rephrasing the whole
thing just a bit to make it something a bit easier to translate into
Klingon: "I did not follow safety regulations".

The "safety regulations" is the hard part here. There's no good word to
directly translate "safety" in Klingon (QaD is a slang word meaning "be
safe"), but we can use something like <Qan'eghmeH chutHommey> - "The minor
rules for protecting oneself".

The rest of it is pretty easy. We have a word - <pab> which means "follow
rules", and it is perfect here. Here's the whole thing:

Qan'eghmeH chutHommey vIpabbe'.

> pIchwIj .

This is not a complete sentence. It's just "my fault". An expression a lot
of list members use to say "it was/is my fault" is <pIch vIghaj>.

> mInwIj pIv DaHjaj!

The <DaHjaj> goes at the beginning of the sentence, and the subject has to
go *after* the verb.

DaHjaj pIv mInwIj.

> mInDu' potlh. tIQan

Sentence order again: <potlh mInDu'. tIQan>.


> My left eye was injured due to acid 5 days ago. I failed
> to follow safety measures. I am to blame. My eye is
> healthy today! Your eyes are important. Protect them!

maj. pIvqa'pu'mo' mInlIj bIDo'. not DarIQqa'jaj.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian