tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 01 20:03:47 2000
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RE: KLBC: more sentences
- From: Eric Andeen <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: more sentences
- Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 20:03:30 -0700
Your subject line says "more sentences", but I don't recognize your email
address, so I assume you are new. Welcome to the list.
TomLeGeyt:
> jatlh bochmoHwI' Qoy qoH neH
> Only a fool hears a flatterer speak.
You're missing something to connect the verbs <jatlh> and <Qoy>. As the
sentence is, they're both trying to be main verbs, which doesn't work. The
thing you want in this case is <'e'>. <'e'> represents the previous
sentence, and acts as the object of the verb that follows it. See TKD 6.2.5
for more information.
jatlh bochmoHwI' 'e' Qoy qoH neH.
This is basically <jatlh bochmoHwI'> - "A flatterer speaks" - plus <'e' Qoy
qoH neH> - "Only a fool hears that".
> qaSpu' yISaHbe'. yIvang.
> Don't care about what happens. Take action.
Once again, <qaS> and <SaH> are both trying to be the main verbs of the
sentence. This time, you meant <qaSpu'> to mean "what happens", or to get a
little more wordy "the events which (will) happen". For this you need the
verb suffix <-bogh>. <-bogh> is fairly equivalent to the English word
"which".
qaSbogh wanI' - The event(s) which happen.
Also, the suffix <-be'> is not used with imperative verbs. Instead, use
<-Qo'>.
qaSbogh wanI' yISaHQo'. yIvang.
> vay' qaSmoHDaneH 'e' yIbuS
> Concentrate on what you want to make happen.
You've got the right ideas again, but you're not putting them together
correctly. The best way to deal with this one is to build it up from smaller
pieces:
vay' - something
vay' DaqaSmoH - You make something happen
vay' DaqaSmoH DaneH - You want to make something happen
vay' DaqaSmoH DaneHbogh - Something you want to make happen
vay' DaqaSmoH DaneHbogh yIbuS - Concentrate on what you want to make happen
> ramqu' wanI'mey. potlhqu' vangghachmey.
> Events are trivial. Actions are important.
The suffix <-ghach> is generally not used on a bare verb stem - it just
sounds weird. It's probably best to think of an alternative. I would suggest
something like <vay' ta'lu'bogh> - "Things which are accomplished".
Of course this destroys the flow of your proverb, so you probably need to
change the first part a bit now for parallelism. How about <qaSbogh neH
wanI'mey> - "Events which just happen".
ramqu' qaSbogh neH wanI'. potlhqu' vay' ta'lu'bogh.
Events which merely happen are trivial. Accomplished actions are important.
> not romuluSngan DublIj yI'ang
> Never show your back to a Romulan.
This is the perfect place for the nouns suffix <-vaD>. You're showing your
back (or not), so that's the object of the verb. You're showing it *to* the
Romulan, which makes him the beneficiary, and that's exactly what <-vaD> is
for.
not romuluSnganvaD DublIj yI'ang.
> not verengan Huch ngIp Dachaw'
> Never let a Ferengi borrow money.
Start with little bits again:
Huch ngIp verengan - A Ferengi borrows money
Huch ngIp verengan 'e' yIchaw' - Permit a Ferengi to borrow money.
Huch ngIp verengan not 'e' yIchaw' - Never permit a Ferengi to borrow money.
That last one may seem a bit strange, but it makes sense if you think about
it a bit. Since <'e'> is the object of the verb <chaw'>, the adverbial <not>
should go before it. It's really <Huch ngIp verengan> - "A ferengi borrows
money" plus <not 'e' yIchaw'> - "Never permit that".
> naDev raQmaj wIcher 'e' vIchup
> I suggest we set up our camp here.
maj. pup.
> chaq qech QaQ 'oHtaH
> Perhaps it is a good idea.
This works grammatically, but it's not very good style. Instead of saying
"It is a good idea", things work much better in Klingon if you say "The idea
is good" or "that idea is good":
chaq QaQ qech.
> I don't think I'm getting anywhere with this one at all:
>
> not ghommey tIn boS'egh ghotpu' QIp woQchaj puj DaQub
> Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Oh, my. It's late and I'm tired, so I'll just advise you to try this one
again in a few weeks.
Overall these were good, despite my fairly thorough comments. Keep it up!
> Is there a way to learn this language by listening rather
> than reading and writing?
>
> I have TKD, KGT, and TKW but I can't seem to find any of
> these other books in my local bookstores:
>
> Klingon for Dummies Klingon The Easy Way
> Living Klingon Klingon Made Easy
> Klingon in 21 Days Getting Started In Klingon
> Klingon By Example Learn Klingon Now
> The Klingon Phrasebook Everyday Klingon
> Now You're Talking: Klingon Klingon In 15 Minutes A Day
> Passport To Klingon The First 1000 Words
> in Klingon (for
> children)
>
> or these audiocassettes:
>
> Spoken Klingon For Beginners
> Pronouncing Klingon Correctly
> Listen and Learn Klingon
Actually, there *are* two audiocassettes - Conversational Klingon and Power
Klingon. Both are excellent ways to hear Klingon pronounced well. They're
fairly short, but they can serve as a fairly good introduction to the
language. Conversational Klingon is probably the better of the two in this
respect.
> I can't even find Klingon listed in the Foreign Service
> Institute Language Courses. Looks like the KLI has the
> market on Klingon.
It's true that there's less instructional material out there for Klingon
than for more popular langauges like Spanish, but think of that as an
interesting challenge rather than a problem.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian