tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Mar 25 19:20:33 2001
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RE: KLBC: Perfect Sangha
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Bracey [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 5:07 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: KLBC: Perfect Sangha
...
> A few Questions
>
> 1)Couldn't find a word for example, so I used 'oSwI' as thing which
> represents. Have I missed a more obvious choice?
Most use {chovnatlh}, but I'm not sure the English word "example" has a
single Klingon word that carries all of its meanings. Also consider
{paQDI'norgh}, {ghojmeH wanI'}, {'angmeH ghu'}, {qechvam cha'bogh Doch'e'},
{qechvam qelbogh ghu''e'}, etc. Instead of looking for a Klingon word that
means the same thing as an English word, look for the Klingon words that
express the idea that inspired a specific statement in English.
To be honest, I nearly always hate the question, "What is the Klingon word
for ____?" I much prefer the more meaningful question, "How do I say, '____'
in Klingon?" The latter involves a whole statement that has a meaning that
can be cast in Klingon, while the former is looking at Klingon as if it were
a code instead of a language, where you replace all the English words with
their Klingon equivalents, swap the word order around some and you have
successfully "translated" text into Klingon. You really need to understand
the context of the original statement before you can adequately translate
it.
> 2)Have I used -lu' correctly? I meant to express the idea of
> being understood.
It is getting late and I blew it by deleting the original text. I think
others have addressed this adequately, anyway.
> 3)I used a rhetorical question as I wasn't sure how to say "others have
> wondered why I said that". I came up with 'e' vIja 'e' tlhoblu'.
> This seems
> to be close but doesn't really express the why. Any help?
Verbs of speech don't use the pronoun {'e'}. So far as we currently
understand it, Klingons use direct quotation such that the quoted speech and
the statement of speech are grammatically independent of each other with
optional order.
As examples:
English:
"I said, 'Come on!'"
Klingon:
Ha' jIjatlh.
or
jIjatlh Ha'.
Question verbs refer to a sort of intransitive description of action such
that the question itself still uses {ja'} or {jatlh}. For example:
English:
"I asked you, 'Where did Krankor go?'"
Klingon:
qatlhob. jIjatlh nuqDaq ghoS Qanqor?
or
qatlhob. nuqDaq ghoS Qanqor jIjatlh.
Many of us come up with punctuation to indicate direct quotation:
qatlhob. jIjatlh <<nuqDaq ghoS Qanqor?>>
qatlhob. <<nuqDaq ghoS Qanqor?>> jIjatlh.
Meanwhile, more directly to your question, "Others have wondered why I said
that" might be something like:
qechvam vIDelDI' SIvchoH lathpu'. meqwIj luyaj luneH.
> Robert
> Robert
>
> 'To not know what happened before
> you were born is to remain
> always a child' Cicero
bIboghpa' qaSbogh wanI'mey Daghojbe'chugh vaj not bInenchoH.
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SarrIS