tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 15 19:20:39 2001
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RE: Newbie: Question
- From: "Stauffer, Tad E (staufte7)" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Newbie: Question
- Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 22:19:12 -0500
Robert said:
> Robert jIpong'egh
>
> I'm sure that isn't right because I saw something about pong being an
> awkward verb in the FAQ.
>
Welcome to the list, Robert! I'm taD, the current Beginner's Grammarian.
It's my job to help beginners here with Klingon. You can add the letters
"KLBC" to your subject line whenever you want me to check your work, or if
you have a question about how to say something in Klingon. If possible, you
should also include what you were trying to say, in English. This will make
it easier for me to make sure that you say what you are trying to say.
Your above sentence is actually a very good attempt at saying "I call myself
Robert". We don't really have many examples of how to use the verb {pong},
so we don't know whether your sentence is what a Klingon would say.
But you're right, in English the verb "name" is used as in "I name my dog
Spot", and uses two objects. As far as we know, Klingon doesn't have verbs
like this. Voragh may correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the only
example we have of the verb {pong} being used is something like:
{'oHvaD juHqo' neH ponglu'} "It is called merely <The Homeworld>", or
literally "For it, one names merely <The Homeworld>"
So instead, of having two direct objects, we would have to say something
such as:
{ghaHvaD Robert ponglu'} "For him, Robert is called"
Or, we can avoid using the verb {pong}, and instead use the noun {pong}.
We'll typically say:
{Robert 'oH pongwIj'e'} ("Robert is my name").
> As UK people will know Comic Relief is starting soon and the slogan is
> 'Pants to Poverty'. I was trying to work out how to render this in Klingon
> and was wondering if someone might be able to help. This is how far I got:
>
> (I have the Dictionary but nothing else)
>
> I can find no word for poverty, but chep is the verb for be prosperous so
> I
> thought chepbe'ghach could be used for poverty.
>
I would probably translate {chepbe'ghach} as "unsuccessfulness".
However, as others have suggested, the phrase 'Pants to Poverty' is a bit
odd. (American) English is my first language, and I've never heard 'pants'
used as a slang term. So translating it literally into Klingon isn't going
to work. Instead, it's always a good idea to think of what you really mean
by the phrase. A Klingon might think that you're talking about donating your
pants but you're actually saying something such as "Discourage poverty!".
So instead of talking about pants, you could try saying "Help those who are
poor!" or "Discourage poverty!"
Since the original phrase is slang/vernacular, you could add the Klingon
word {jay'} to the end of the sentence. This would turn it into a curse
(such as "Discourage poverty, dammit!"), and give the same effect as using
slang in the original English version of the phrase.
> There isn't a word for pants either. There is yIvbeH for tunic so
> bIngyIvbeH for under-tunic?
>
Actually, the word {yopwaH} ("pants") appears on p. 145 of TKD.
{bIng yIvbeH} could work for under-tunic, but as was mentioned, you don't
want to translate your phrase literally with "underwear".
> Or tuQmoH is put on clothes, so it moH is the suffix for cause tuQmoH is
> cause tuQ. So tuQHom for little clothes?
>
You are correct, in that {tuQmoH} means "cause someone to {tuQ}". However,
{tuQ} actually means "to wear (clothes)", and is a verb.
You cannot add a noun suffix such as {-Hom} onto a verb. However, there is
the noun {Sut} ("clothing"). So you could say {SutHom}. This could mean
something like "minor clothing", "undergarments", etc.
> I couldn't work out how to say Pants to Poverty (or Lack of Riches to
> little clothers) so I used the larger slogan, Say Pants to Poverty and
> made
>
> chepbe'ghach pejatlh tuQHom
>
> Anyway as you can see I am completely unable to do this, and I could do
> with some help.
>
This was a good effort. I'd recommend saying something such as "Help those
who are poor!" or "Discourage poverty!", and if you have difficulty with one
of those, I can correct any problems you have.
Qapla'
- taD
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