tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Nov 18 17:43:56 1999

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RE: KLBC Help with a word...



juDmoS vIqaD:
>> Here are some Klingon sentences about dreaming.
>> Let's see how you would translate them into English.
>>  
>>  Do'Ha' 'eqqu'mo' vemmeH repwIj, ngaj najmeH poHwIj.

jatlh juDmoS:

> My dreaming time is short, for the time of waking will 
> unfortunately be very early. 

maj. This is a very literal translation, though. You could have said
something like "... because I have to get up very early." for a smoother
translation

> (However, I have recently been attacked for using a 
> noun suffix on a verb, so I must ask: If you attach 
> the rover -qu' to the verb 'eq , why is it then 
> permissible to add the noun suffix -mo' ??)

Because it's also a verb suffix. See the TKD addendum, page 175.

>  Qel, wa'Hu' ram jInajtaHvIS, toQ vImoj. yIpoj. nuq 'oS?
> 
> Doctor, yesterday, while I dreamt, I became a bird. What 
> does it mean (represent) ?

maj.

>  najlu'chu'DI', wanI' Dun law' yuch Dun puS.
> 
> When one dreams perfectly, there are more great occurences 
> than great chocolate.
>
> (Although I'm not sure what it means, I'm pretty sure that's 
> what it says...)

Not quite. The law'/puS construction is throwing you a little bit. The basic
formula for comparitives in Klingon is <A Q law' B Q puS>, where A and B are
the nouns compared, and Q is the quality for comparison. What this means is
"A is more Q than B". For example, <targh tIn law' vIghro' tIn puS> means
"The targ is bigger than the cat". The <law'> and <puS> really have nothing
to do with the nouns "being many" or "being few"; they're just part of the
formula.  

So what this literally means is "When one dreams perfectly, the event is
better than chocolate". By far the best way to translate it into English is:
"A good dream is better than chocolate".

> How'd I do?

bIQap. maj.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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