tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 15 17:18:03 2000

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: KLBC cheng Sa' may' bom vIghItlh rIntaH

jatlh J:

> SoQ  noy  <ghtlhroq>  <<lu  qeng>>  vISov
> 'ej Hoch  De'  qeng  HIp  vIDel

The <ghtlhroq> should go before the <SoQ noy>. This is a possessive
construction - G'Trok's story - and the possessor goes before the thing
possessed in Klingon. Also, if you're going to transliterate, it's more
likely to be <ghItlhroq> - <gh>-<tlh>-<r> doesn't really work with what we
know of Klingon phonology, and it's pretty darn unpronouncable.

Same thing with <De'> - <qeng HIp De'> - "Kang's uniform's information", or
"the information of Kang's uniform".

> I know the famous speech from G'Trok's "Fall of Kang,"
> and I describe every detail of Kang's uniform.

> wa'logh  QoQ  vIQoyDI'  vIbomlaHchu'
>
> Once I hear a piece of music I can repeat it perfectly.

This would be a perfect place for the perfective suffix <-pu'>: <wa'logh QoQ
vIQoypu'DI' vIbomlaHchu'>. The <-pu'> basically makes it mean "Once I have
heard ... ".

> QI'  SovwIj yInuD.  butlh  vIghaj  'ej  jIvang.
> Examine my military knowledge!  I have gall, and I act.

It's not literally gall, but "I have dirt under my fingernails" sounds quite
silly in English :)

> <jems tIy qIrq>  Hoch HeSmeyDaj  vIja'

This, like your English, is stylized and ungrammatical, but that's OK. I
would suggest putting an <-'e'> on <qIrq>, though.

> jaghwI'  ghaH  vIHaghqu'

You obviously meant <HaD> rather than <Hagh>, and I think you could really
use a <-ta'> here as well. I would also drop the <ghaH> entirely and say:

jaghwI''e' vIHaDta'

You can add a <-qu'> before (or after) the <-ta'> if you need to.

> James T Kirk, all his crimes I tell,
> my enemy I have studied him well.


> peng  nejwI'  muD  ghap  vIngu'DI'
> When I can identify a torpedo or an atmospheric  probe,

You need a <-laH> on the <ngu'>, and a comma after <peng> would make things
clearer.

> yotmey  weHmey  je  vISaHqu'DI'
> when I am more careful about sorties and surprise raids,

maj.

> tat nochmey  qaSta'  Ser  vIghojta'DI'
> when I learn what progress has been made with ion sensors,

Some problems here. First of all, the <vIghojta'DI'> doesn't fit in with the
rest of the sentence at all. We'll deal with that last.

<tat nochmey> is obviously perfect for "ion sensors", and I like the obscure
vocabulary. However, it's not really connected to the rest of the sentence.
<qaS> means "occur", and it can't take an object, so <tat nochmey> is just
sort of hanging there. If you *really* want to leave it hanging there, add
an <-'e'>, but realize this is ungrammatical. Probably the simplest way to
fix this is:

qaSpu' tat nochmey Ser - "Progress of ion sensors has occurred"

Note the <-pu'> - people can set out to do things, but "progress" can't.

For the <vIghojta'DI'>, the best thing to do is make a decent sentence out
of the rest of it and use <'e'>. Since you can't use type seven suffixes
with <'e'>, you'll have to drop the <-ta'>:

qaSpu' tat nochmey Ser 'e' vIghojDI'

> vaj, toQDuj  ra'pu'bogh  tlhIngan  Sa'  QaQ  law'  
> Hoch  QaQ  puS  ghaH SujatlhchoHchuq.

> Then you will say he is the best Klingon General who 
> commanded a bird of prey.

The comparitive is fine, but trying to wedge the <ghaH ...> on the end just
doesn't work. This is another good place for <'e'>, and I suggest the verb
<maq> for variety and effect:

... law' ... puS 'e' bomaqchoH.


I've actually listened to "Modern Major General" a few times recently in the
car, and this captures a little bit of that spirit, without going to
overboard or getting too literal. maj. 


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

tlhIngan Hol Mailing List FAQ
http://www.bigfoot.com/~dspeers/klingon/faq.htm

Back to archive top level