tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 23 15:40:37 2000

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RE: KLBC muDpIn

jatlh J:

> jatlhchu'ta'  muDpIn
> The weatherman has spoken!

Hmmm. <muDpIn> for weatherman. OK.

> cha'leS  Huvbej  chal.
> The day after tomorrow the sky will be clear.

maj.

> De'vam  luQoyDI',   nablaH  nugh'a'
> As soon as they hear this information, high society can plan.

I don't really think <nugh'a'> works for "high society". Just plain <nugh>
means "society", and I think we have to assume it's all of society, not just
the restricted set of people with the wealth and/or bloodlines to be part of
the upper class. If you're talking about the upper class of recent history,
I suggest something more direct: <mIpwI'pu'>. Klingon doesn't generally go
for euphamisms.

Also, it's generally better style to put the repeated subject after the
first verb rather than the second:

De'vam luQoyDI' mIpwI'pu', nablaH.

> DaH,  ghe'naQ  chIDwI'mey  je'  ghotpu'.
> Now, people buy opera tickets [??].

> ??-with chID,  admit, this has two distinct meanings in 
> English. Allow entrence and Confess. I didn't just  
> confess to treason when I wanted to enter the building, did I? 

In general, when an English word has two (or more) dissimilar meanings, it's
best to assume that the Klingon word has only the primary meaning of the
English word. Okrand often makes life easier by providing more explanation
for the Klingon word, but not always. Here I think it's best to assume
"admit" basically means "confess".

There's generally not a good way to talk about "tickets" in Klingon - I
know; I've tried. The best thing you can do is to describe them:

ghe'naQ vaS 'elmeH vay', nav mach SuqnIS 'ej DIlnIS. ghe'naQ vaS lojmItDaq,
'avwI'vaD 'elmeH nav nobchugh, vaj 'el 'e' chaw' 'avwI'.

After this, you can probably get away with calling them <'elmeH navmey>.

> ngevpu'  Hoch  chIDwI'mey.
> All tickets are sold.

<ngev> is what the guy behind the window does. The tickets do not "sell";
someone sells them, so <Hoch 'elmeH navmey> needs to be the object, not the
subject. Since you don't really have a subject, you need to use <-lu'>:

Hoch 'elmeH navmey lungevlu'pu'.

> juHmeychajvo'   Haw'nIS  ghotpu'.
> People need to get out of their homes.

jIQochbe'bej, 'ach Haw'nIS'a' chaH? chaq latlh wot DawIvnIS.
Do they really need to flee?

> qachHom  ropmo'  rop.
> They are sick with cabin fever.

This is an English idiom that doesn't translate well. Instead, try something
like <reH juH qoDDaq ratlhlu'taHchugh, Dalqu'choH ghu'> - If one remains
inside all the time, the situation gets very boring.

> leghchuqnIS  ghotpu'
> People need to see each other.

In English, "see" often means more than just "perceive light". It is used
for social interaction. We don't have any evidence of that in Klingon.
Instead, I suggest <ghomchuqnIS> - "People need to *meet*".

> puqpu'  QorghmeH,  ghojmoq  lutu'nIS  vavpu'  SoSpu'  je.
> Parents need to find a babysitter to take care of their children.

Since you're talking about multiple sets of parents, they probably need
multiple babysitters. Also, <tu'> is not really this kind of find. I would
suggest <Sam> instead.

> bIrtaHvIS  jarmey,  peD jev qaS.
> While the months are cold, snow storms happen  [??].

<peD>, <jev>, and <qaS> are all verbs, so this is basically "It snows it
storms it happens". Not quite what you want. Instead, just use <peD>. Add an
adverbial like <pIj> or <rut> if you like. If you want to talk specifically
about snowstorms rather than just normal snowfalls, use <peDqu'>.

> je'vIp  Hoch.
> Everyone is afraid to buy.

maj.

> Huch  tIn  vaghmaH  DeQmey  'ej  Hoch  je'  rIntaH.
> Fifty dollars is a lot of money,  and All Sales Are Final.

I think of <Huch tIn> as a dollar bill blown up by a photocopy machine.
<Huch law'> would make more sense, I think. You're also missing a main verb
in the first part. In the English, you say "fifty dollars is ..." even
though "fifty dollars" is clearly plural. In Klingon, there's no reason to
believe this is true, so you would have to say "fifty dollars are ...".

Huch law' bIHbej vaghmaH DeQmey'e' ...

For the second part, the <rIntaH> is a good idea, but the grammar around it
doesn't work. There's no noun for "sale" in Klingon, so you have to recast.
My suggestion would be:

... 'ej 'elmeH nav je'pu'DI' vay, je' rIntaH.

> muDmo'  SuD  pagh.
> No one takes a chance due to the weather.

maj.

> naDev  law'  Qe'mey.
> There are many restaurants around here.

maj. 

> ramvetlh   buy'  
> That night they will be full.

maj. I'd probably say <cha'leS ram> rather than <ramvetlh>, though.

> buy' je qachmaj. 
> Our house will be full, too.  [?]

maj.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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