tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 24 11:25:33 1999

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RE: KLBC thingees



> nuqneH,
> 
> How does one do comparatives in Klingon? I would like to say 
> I like X better than Y.

The answer is in TKD section 6.6 (page 70). To compare a quality (verb
describing a state or quality) Q of nouns X and Y, the formula is: <X Q law'
Y Q puS>. This means "X is more Q than Y." For example:

'etlh tIn law' taj tIn puS - The sword is bigger than the dagger
jIH pI' law' be'nalwI' pI' puS - I am fatter than my wife
SoH qan law' Hoch qan puS - You are the oldest of all

For comparisons, like yours, that don't quite fit this formula, things get
trickier. There is really no way to fit active verbs like <parHa'> into this
construction, so you have to recast a bit. In this case, the best way to do
it is something like:

jIHvaD X qaq law' Y qaq puS
jIHvaD X 'ey law' Y 'ey puS
X 'IH law' Y 'IH puS

You can drop the <jIHvaD> most of the time - I think Klingons worry less
about distinguishing between their own opinions and general statements than
most English speakers do.

> jabbI'ID tlhingan Hol Qatlh.

"Klingon messages are difficult.", yes?

I think you have your word order backwards here. A "Klingon [language]
message" is a <tlhIngan Hol jabbI'ID> - same order as in English. Also, the
verb <Qatlh> has to go before the subject <tlhIngan Hol jabbI'ID>.

Qatlh tlhIngan Hol jabbI'ID.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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