tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 13 18:53:02 2000
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RE: limerick attempt: cha' be'nI'pu' / KLBC
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: limerick attempt: cha' be'nI'pu' / KLBC
- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 19:54:45 -0700
jatlh ghunchu'wI':
> The grammar of the last line seems fine to me -- it implies that the
> "killed" men are plural, which is quite appropriate. It's the *first*
> line that requires the {lu-} prefix, unless somehow the sisters manage
> to reside in more than one "First City".
HIvqa' veqlargh. I should have pointed this out.
jatlh De'vID:
: bIlugh, "luDab" vIlo'nIS. pIj "lu-" moHaq vIlIj. (I always forget
: this because it's the only one in the "it/them-it/them" combination
: requiring a prefix.) vaj, *limerick-wIj vIqonqa':
:
: cha' be'nI'pu'
: ==============
: veng wa'DIch luDab cha' be'nI'pu',
: reH chaH leghDI' vay', jatlh: 'IHqu'!
: jagh HoHmeH SuvwI''a'
: betleHDaj lo'nISba',
: 'ach loDpu' HoH be'nI'pu' mInDu'.
:
: (Okay, the syllable count is now a bit off, but I'll just attribute
: it to poetic license.)
jatlh Voragh:
> To fix that you can almost always omit the plural suffix, which
> is optional in Klingon and frequently omitted on nouns following
> numbers or used with verb prefixes referring to a plural subject
> or object:
> veng wa'DIch luDab cha' be'nI',
> reH chaH leghDI' vay', jatlh: 'IHqu'!
> Now you're back to eight syllables for line 1. But, alas, it no
> longer rhymes with lines 2 and 5.
Given that limericks are a popular form of poetry which do not necessarily
use the most formal speech, and that omitting <lu-> is one of the most
common grammatical mistakes in Klingon, it's probably fine the way it was
originally.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian
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