tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 01 11:03:43 2001

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RE: Enterprise



> (in fact, I just started learning Klingon Saturday) 

Welcome to the list Sangqar, I am DloraH, the current Beginners' Grammarian.  
It's my job to help the new guys.  If you want you can put KLBC (Klingon 
Language Beginners' Conversation) at the beginning of the subject, this will 
flag the message.  As a KLBC message, the BG (beginners' Grammarian) replies 
first, befor anyone else.


> >Hov leng Sov paqDaq ngoDvam lulaDlu'.
> >These facts are in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, from Paramount.
> 
> Why did you use {ngoDvam} and not {ngoDmeyvam} here?  I'm just a beginner 
> and I want to know if I'm missing something.

In the Klingon Dictionary in the section about type 2 noun suffixes (plurals) 
it says that plural suffixes are optional.  You can use them to help clearify 
ambiguity or possibly emphasize that they ARE plural (and there are some other 
special effects that can be done with -mey).

The verb prefix on laD is lu- (they / him), but when used with the suffix -lu' 
changes to (he / them).  So the prefix (and suffix) force the object to be 
plural.  Adding -mey would not be wrong, just redundent.


> -Sangqar
> 
> BTW, about my Klingon name - I know that the two halves are actually words 
> ({Sang} obliterate and {qar} be accurate), but I like the sound, so unless 
> the combination means something nasty, I'm going to keep it.  So does anyone 
> know if this particular combination means anything beyond the meanings of 
> the individual words?

Other than in a name, these two words can't be put together like this, so you 
don't have to worry about your name meaning "obliterate" and "accurate".  And 
as far as we know, there is not a word [Sangqar], so it is safe to use as a 
name.

There is a message between yours and this reply, from d'Armond that is about 
the list's FAQ.  Read the FAQ.  It has a section about names.


DloraH, BG


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