tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 30 18:41:43 1999
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RE: KLBC from ter'es page
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC from ter'es page
- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 19:43:04 -0700
jatlh chavta'ngav:
> pagh, -if you could check out my klingon sentence (I have
> only one this time =])Im getting a little bolder with suffix use
>
> for anyone interested:
> I just visited ter'es (terrence donnelly) klingon web page
> with jokes translated in klingon and some prose of his
> (klingon and other language related stuff )....its really AWESOME!!!
> if you havent seen it its worth checking it out
> http://www.geocities.com/taresh_2000/klinjoke.html
> he has other languages he has developed
> printed below is my attempt with creating a sentence in vogu
> translated to klingon and then translated into english (you
> can ignore the vogu if you want to =])(I partially cheated
> creating the vogu anyway i mixed several phrases already
> stated and changed pronouns but none of the vogu is from scratch )
> u'gu vo'gukadanav slathapa' kambo, i'na u'pabo'
> thi pami'kathurata. kih'twor nasna'sn u opulongau'
DaH qaQaHlaHbe'chu'. vogu vIjatlhbe'bej.
> bong jIjatlhchugh Sov'bogh qarghach (who knows if I
> accidently said it right or not (in vogu) :])
"If I accidentally said it *right*" would probably be better as <bong
jIjatlhchu'chugh>. <-chu'> means "clearly, perfectly", and carries the
meaning of speaking correctly quite well, I think.
The second part - <Sov'bogh qarghach> - just doesn't work. To start with,
"Who knows?" is a rather weird English idiom, and does not translate well.
Instead, I would probably say something like this:
chaq bong jIjatlhchu' - "Perhaps I said it right".
If you want to, you can add <Sovbej pagh> or <jISovbe'> after it for "Nobody
knows for sure" or "I don't know", respectively.
> vogu'e' vIjatlhbe' 'ach
In Klingon, language names seem to always include <Hol>, and I don't think
Vogu would be an exception.
> qatlho' juH batlhlI'vaD
Any type five suffixed nouns really have to go at the beginning of the
sentence, before the main verb. Also, <-vaD> is often translated as "for",
but not this kind of "for". It really means something like "for the benefit
of", while this kind of "for" is a lot closer to "because of" or <-mo'>.
The possessive suffix should be <-lIj> rather than <-lI'> (neither your
house nor its honor are capable of speaking), and it should go on <juH>
rather than <batlh>. You want "the honor of your house" rather than "your
honor of the house", which doesn't really make sense.
Finally, "hospitality" is probably a very weird concept in Klingon. "I thank
you for your hospitality" really sounds like it falls into the category of
"courteous expression", and Klingon just does not have these things. A
Klingon responds to hospitality by behaving honorably, eating everything
given to him, and not wasting his host's time with smalltalk. The best
translation of "I thank you for your hospitality" is therefore to say
nothing at all.
> Suchghach vItIvpu'qu'
It's generally a good idea to avoid <-ghach> in general, and especially on
"naked" verb stems with no other suffix. Fortunately, you can do this
perfectly as <qaSuchpu' 'e' vItIvqu'>, and avoid the <-ghach> situation
altogether. See TKD 6.2.5 for more about sentences as objects if this looks
weird to you. Good prefix and suffix use on <tIv>, by the way.
> my translation:
> -->I dont speak vogu very well but I thank you for your hospitality.
> -->I enjoyed my visit very much.
>
> ok pagh hows that?
Some problems, but some good stuff too. maj.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian
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