tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 17 06:36:39 2002
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Re: KBLC KLBC
It's not KBLC, but KLBC: "Klingon Language Beginners' Conversation"
ghItlh ngabwI':
>jIQongtaHvIS jIvumlaH.
> I can do this job sleeping.
maj.
literally "I can work while I am sleeping"
>(I am curious if I need to use {'e'} with {jIQongtaHvIS} as the antecedent)
You only need the pronoun {'e'} when the preceding sentence is the object of the verb, as in
{bIQong 'e' vIlegh}
"I see that you sleep"
"You sleep; I see that"
In your case, {jIQongtaHvIS} "while I am sleeping" is a subordinate clause. TKD 6.2.2 explains:
<<<<<< Klingon verbs ending in Type 9 suffixes (other than {-'a'} "interrogative" and {-wI'} "one who does, one
which does") always occur in sentences with another verb. Hence, they are verbs in subordinate clauses"
>>>>>>
Just as in english, the order of the two parts of the sentence is variable:
{jIQongtaHvIS jIvumlaH.}
"while I am sleeping I can work"
{jIvumlaH jIQongtaHvIS}
"I can work while I am sleeping"
> potlhHom 'oH Sepvetlh'e'
> - "The region is of minor importance"
>(I am questioning the use of {potlhHom} ("little important thing"?), as I am
>not sure this is a valid translation, or that this sentence has a valid
>translation)
Interesting question. Your sentence is grammatically correct. Only the question remains what {potlhHom} exactly
means.
{potlh}n. "consequential thing, something important"
{potlhHom}n. "minor consequential thing, something less important" (?)
Then there should also be something {potlh'a'} "something very important"
>Another question: Is it that I'm so new to the language, or are the speakers
>of thlIngan Hol in the movies and TV just really bad?
Oh no, those are just different dialects! ;-)
(that's the official explanation, of course the actors had trouble)
> DEE HEEV LA TA VEES DEE HEEV NEES
>Am I listening incorrectly, or is that what he actually said?
That's exactly what he says.
This sounds like Morskan dialect
{*DIhIvlatavIS DIhIvnIS*}
More about that in KGT p.22.
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH