Re: [KLBC]pong

[Steven Boozer <sboozer@midway.uchicago.edu>]

nuqum qultoQ:

: jatlh, T'uvien:
: jISovnIs Hoch:
: [hmm, chay' \curious/ jatlh? [...]

Since "be curious" isn't in the lexicon use {SIv} "wonder".  Okrand on
startrek.klingon (7/97):

  {tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh 'e' vISIv} "I wonder if you speak Klingon."

  (The fourth example is weird from an English translation point of
  view, but it falls right in line in Klingon. If the English
  translation matched the pattern of the other three sentences, it
  would be "I wonder that you speak Klingon." In English, this means
  something like "I'm surprised that you speak Klingon" or "I don't
  understand how it can be that you speak Klingon," but this is not
  what the Klingon sentence means. The Klingon sentence means
  something more like "I am curious about whether you speak Klingon."
  The clumsiness here is the English, not the Klingon.)

: [...] /jISovnIs Hoch\~\i need to know everything/]
: um, nuq Hech ponglIj?
: 'oHbe' tlhIngan Hol;

Since BG pagh seems to be a little busy this week, a quick comment on
grammar. 
The basic Klingon word order is: ADVERBIAL OBJECT VERB SUBJECT.  (Okrand did
this intentionally, to make Klingon as unlike the vast majority of Earth
languages as he could.)  Write this down on a slip of paper and tape it to
your
monitor.  In time you'll find this order becomes instinctive.  You got it
right
in one case:

  nuq Hech ponglIj?
  What does your name mean?

You used {Hech} "intend, mean to":

  Hem tlhIngan Segh 'ej maHemtaH 'e' wIHech
  Klingons are a proud race, and we intend to go on being proud. TKW

  Ha'DIbaH DaSop 'e' DaHechbe'chugh yIHoHQo'
  Do not kill an animal unless you intend to eat it. TKW

Most of us on the list use {'oS} "represent" for this type of question ("What
does X mean?"):

  toDuj 'oS rol 
  A beard is a symbol of courage. TKW

  qorDu'Daj tuq 'oS Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv 
  The sash that Worf wears is a symbol of his family's house. S20

  yay 'oS bey 
  This yell is victorious in nature... S31 

As for Okrand (or should I say Maltz?), who knows?  AFAIK, he's never told us
how to say "What does X mean in Klingon?" or "How do you say X in Kingon?"  

Rephrasing your other two sentences into OVS order:

  Hoch vISovnIS.  
  I need to know everything.

Don't forget to use {vI-} when you have an object: "I [do something] to
him/her/it/them".  {jI-} just means "I [do something]" without an object. 
{jISov} "I know" (in general) vs. {vISov} "I know him/her/it/them" (specific).

  tlhIngan Hol 'oHbe'.
  It isn't Klingon.

The full form of this equational sentence would be:

  tlhIngan Hol 'oHbe' ponglIj'e'.
  Your name isn't Klingon.
  (lit. "As for your name, it is not Klingon (language).")

Finally, to give my two cents on the queston:  {vulqangan Hol 'oHlaw' T'uvien
pong'e'}.

-- 
Voragh                       
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons