RE: What sort?

["Andeen, Eric" <Eric.Andeen@Sequencia.com>]

jIjatlh:
> 
> jatlh Zrajm:
> 
> > De'vam yIlaD 'ej yIjang.
> 
> > I tried to translate "What kind [of tea] is he making?"
> > but how do I say that in klingon? Is {nuq Segh vut.} correct?
> 
> Probably not. <nuq vut?> would mean "what is he cooking?", but <nuq Segh
> vut?> doesn't work (at least as far as we know).

> Dargh Segh vutbogh yIngu' - Identify the variety of tea he is preparing.
> 
> pagh

jatlh Zrajm:

> Dargh Segh DachenmoHtaHlu'bogh choja''a'
> You tell me which type tea you are making  ?

maj. Now you're getting the hang of it. The suffix <-lu'> is out of order,
but doesn't belong on <chenmoH> anyway. Also, the <-taH> would only be
appropriate if the tea making were an ongoing activity - perhaps if I were
working in a restaurant and my morning task was to make the tea. In general,
either the suffix <-lI'> or no aspect suffix at all would work better.

Also, the verb <vut> is often defined as "cook", but really refers to any
kind of food preparation. It makes more sense than <chenmoH> for making tea,
I think.

Finally, you have asked "Will you tell me what kind of tea you are making?".
This is a polite way to phrase a question in English (and parallels many
other Terran languages), but I would expect a Klingon to say <ghobe'> and
leave it at that. Instead of asking, be more direct and tell the tea maker
to tell you:

Dargh Segh Davutbogh HIja'. - Tell me what kind of tea you're making.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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