tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu May 31 20:15:30 2001
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RE: KLBC: 'ol
- From: "Stauffer, Tad E (staufte7)" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: 'ol
- Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 23:15:36 -0400
David said:
I have written a (very) short story and would like some
feedback.
DaH megh wISop. naDev'vo jImej 'ej juHDaq jIchegh.
maj. You just have a minor typo for {naDevvo'}.
meghwIj taD.
Check your word order here. Verbs such as {taD} ("be frozen") describe a
state, so they can only have a subject, and not an object. When you put this
kind of verb *after* a noun, it modifies the noun, and isn't a complete
sentence. For example:
{meghwIj taD} "my frozen lunch"
jIbuDmoH, meghwIj vIvut vIneHbe'.
For the first word here, you want the verb suffix {-mo'} ("because") instead
of {-moH} ("cause").
Otherwise, good.
The English version:
It's time for lunch. I leave here and return home. My lunch is
frozen. I do not want to cook it because I am lazy.
Questions:
1. Is there a better way to indicate that it's time to do
something in {tlhIngan Hol}? I borrowed a bit from my French
classes here and tried to use a plural subject to get the idea
across (now we eat lunch).
This version works here. Of course, if you're the only one who is eating,
then you would want to say {DaH megh vISop} isntead {DaH megh wISop}.
Depending on the context, you could also turn it into a command by using an
imperitive prefix:
{DaH megh yISop} "Eat lunch now!"
Or, to indicate that you must eat lunch, you could use the verb suffix
{-nIS} ("need"):
{DaH megh vISopnIS} "Now I must eat lunch."
2. Could I use {'e'} in the last sentence somehow instead of
repeating the word {meghwIj}? (i.e. "I don't want to cook it."
The pronoun {'e'} refers to the entire previous sentence, and not just a
noun. So, it wouldn't make sense to use it in this case.
If you don't want to repeat {meghwIj}, you can use the pronoun {'oH} ("it")
to refer to the lunch:
{'oH vIvut vIneHbe'} "I don't want to cook *it*."
Or, you can leave out {'oH} also, and just say:
{vIvut vIneHbe'} "I don't want to cook it."
The prefix {vI-} in {vIvut} indicates that the object is "he/she/it/them",
and in this case it's obvious that you're still talking about your lunch. So
you can leave out the second {meghwIj} here.
meghlIj Davutchugh, latlh lut yIqon! :-)
- taD