tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 29 09:51:58 2001

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

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

RE: KLBC: Grammer questions


qonwI' said:

	     Here are the sentences that Qov gave me to translate, along
with my 
	translations. 

	>Three years ago, a brave warrior killed a mugato. 
	       wej ben mughato' HoH vaj yoH. 

maj.
In these sentences, {SuvwI'} probably is a better choice for "warrior". KGT
says that {vaj} basically describes "warriorhood" or the abstract concept of
a warrior, rather than a specific individual. {SuvwI'} (literally "fighter")
works for the situation here.


	>While they were fighting, the mugato's claw wounded the warrior's
skin. 
	       SuvtaHvIS chaH, vaj DIr 'oy' mughato' pach. 

The verb {'oy'} is defined as "ache, hurt, be sore", in the sense of "My arm
hurts." So this verb cannot have an object (such as {vaj DIr}). However, you
can add the verb suffix {-moH} ("cause"), and say {'oy'moH} ("cause to be
sore"). Or, as I believe Qov suggested to someone else, you could use
another verb, such as {QID} ("wound").

Also, your sentence here brings up a question - if a warrior & a mugato are
fighting, do we use {chaH} to describe them? After all, the mugato can't
speak. Or can we use {bIH}, since only one of the lifeforms can speak? TKD
doesn't mention whether one or both of these is incorrect. You can avoid the
problem by just saying {SuvwI' mughato' je} ("the warrior & the mugato")
instead of {chaH} or {bIH}.


	>The damage was minor, but the warrior began to weaken. 
	       qabbe' QIH, 'ach pujchoH vaj. 

maj.


	>Damn!  The animal's claws are toxic! 
	        -----! SUQ Ha'DIbaH pachmey. 

For "Damn!", you could use one of the invectives from page 58 or page 178 of
TKD. For example, {Qu'vatlh!}

The claws here are body parts, so you want to use the body part plural
suffix, {-Du'}, instead of the general plural suffix {-mey}.
So this would be {pachDu'} ("claws").


	>A special woman can cure the disease. 
	       rop vorlaH be' le'. 

maj.


	>Klingons never rely on alien women. 
	       not nov be' wuv tlhInganpu'. 

For the phrase "alien women", rather than using the noun {nov} for "alien,
foreigner", you can use the verb {nov} ("be alien").
When we use verbs to describe nouns, the verb goes after the noun. For
example:

{nagh let} "the hard rock"

If the verb goes first, then it becomes a complete sentence:

{let nagh} "The rock is hard."

So to say "an alien woman", you would use {be'} followed by the verb {nov}.


	>If you go to that planet, you can see the Klingon's bones. 
	       yuQvetlhDaq bojaHchugh, tlhIngan HomDu' boleghlaH. 

maj. Just be aware that since you've used the prefix {bo-}, it indicates
that you're talking to more than one person.

- taD

Back to archive top level