tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 03 16:39:21 2001

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RE: KLBC: Do Qe'Daq

Uli said:

	Hi, 
	this is a little dialogue a friend and I worked out for a "Klingon
for beginners" project 
	we're currently doing at university. The story, in brief, is this: A
terran tourist 
	visits a Klingon fast food restaurant and strikes up a conversation
with a Klingon who is 
	eating there. Later on, a child is seen standing in a corner and
drinking from a cup. 

	Could you please tell us whether the following sentences are
correct? 

	Thanks, 
	Uli & Afra 

	----------------- 

	01 Tourist: nuqneH. (Hello.) 

	02 Klingon: nuqneH. (What do you want?) 
	
According to Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, on page 184, if someone says
the greeting {nuqneH}, the other person doesn't respond with {nuqneH}. The
Klingon here could say {yIjatlh} ("Speak!"), to tell the tourist to continue
speaking.


	03 Tourist: nuq bIvangtaH? (What are you doing?) 

Judging from the definition of {vang} ("act, take action"), this verb
probably can't take an object. However, the verb {ta'} ("accomplish") would
work here.
Note that {nuq} is the object of the sentence here, and so you want the verb
prefix that indicates "You - it", which is {Da-}. So this would be:
{nuq Data'taH?} "What are you accomplishing?"


	04 Klingon: jISoptaH. (I am eating.) 

	05 Tourist: nuq bISop? (What are you eating?) 

Again, {nuq} is the object here. So you want the verb prefix {Da-} ("You -
it") instead of {bI-} ("You - no object").


	06 Klingon: qagh vISop. (I'm eating gagh.) 

	07 Tourist: nuq 'oH <<qagh>> 'e'? (What is <<gagh>>?) 

When using a "to be" sentence like this, the {-'e'} is the noun suffix, and
not the pronoun {'e'}. So it goes right after the noun here:
{qagh'e'}
There's a typo in TKD in section 6.3, where it incorrectly has a space
between {qama'pu'} and {-'e'}, which may have confused you.


	08 Klingon: tlhIngan nay' 'oH qagh'e'. yIlegh. (Gagh is a Klingon
dish. Look.) 

	09 Tourist: vIH! (It moves!) 

	10 Klingon: HIja'. gharghmey' qargh 'e'. yIn. (Yes. Gagh is serpent
worms. They live.) 

Again, when using a pronoun "to be" sentence, the {-'e'} actually goes right
on the noun.
Also, don't forget the pronoun here:
{gharghmey 'oH qagh'e'} "Gagh is serpent worms"
{gharghmey bIH qagh'e'} "Gagh are serpent worms"
As far as I know, either pronoun could work in this case, since {gharghmey}
is plural, but {qagh} is singular here.


	11 Tourist: chop'a'? (Do they bite?) 

	12 Klingon: ghobe'. Ho'Du' ghajbe' gharghmey. (No. Serpent worms
have no teeth.) 

	13 Tourist: jIyaj. (I understand.) 

	14 Klingon: qagh lubang tlhInganpu'. (Klingons love gagh.) 

{bang} is only a noun, not a verb. For example,
{bangDaj ghaH} "He is her beloved."
So to say that Klingons "love" qagh, you could say that they {tIv} "enjoy"
qagh. Or you could use a sentence as object, and say:
{qagh luSop tlhInganpu'. 'e' lutIv.} "Klingons enjoy eating qagh" which is
literally "Klingons eat qagh. They enjoy that."


	15 Tourist: nuq puq vangtaH? (What is the child doing?) 

Again, the verb {ta'} may work better than {vang} here.
Watch out for your word order - {puq} is the subject of the sentence and
goes to the right of the verb.


	16 Klingon: 'awje' tlhutlh puq. (The child is drinking root beer.) 

	17 Tourist: 'awje'? tera'ngan Soj 'awje' 'e'! (Root beer? Root beer
is a terran drink!) 

Again, when using a "to be" sentence like this, the {-'e'} goes on the last
noun: {'awje''e'}
And don't forget the pronoun either:
{tera'ngan Soj 'oH 'awje''e'} "Root beer is a terran drink."


	18 Klingon: HIja. tera'ngan Sojmey luparHa' tlhIngan puqpu'. (Yes.
Klingon children like 
	terran drinks.) 

	19 Tourist: DaH mejnIS. Qapla'. (I have to go now. Success.) 

If the tourist is using clipped Klingon, then this is fine. Otherwise, you
need the verb prefix for "I - no object" here.


	20 Klingon: Qapla'. (Success.) 

	21 Child: taQ chaH tera'nganpu' 'e'. (Terrans are weird.) 

When using verbs, you don't need to use the pronoun as "to be" construction.
Instead, you can just use {tera'nganpu'} as the subject of the verb. For
example:
{taQ tera'nganpu'} "Terrans are weird."
{Doq Sutvetlh} "That clothing is red."
{rIQ qewwI'wIj} "My ring finger is injured"
However, if you say that one noun is another noun, then you would use the
pronoun as "to be" construction:
{HoD ghaH jupwI''e'} {My friend is a captain.}


	22 Klingon: yItam. (Be quiet.) 


This is a good dialogue.
Qapjaj jInmolraj!

- taD

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