tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 14 00:32:37 2002

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KLBC: was: RE: More puns in new vocab/moq

Ouch!  Ok, I'm guessing you didn't read the first half of the dictionary,
particularly section 6 which starts on page 59.
Klingon is a language all of it's own.  It's not a re-coding of english.  It
has it's own grammar.  English is Subject-Verb-Object.  Klingon is
Object-Verb-Subject.


> HIja'.
> Yes.

"yes" is used a few different ways in english.  In klingon {HIja'} means
"yes" when answering a yes/no type of question.

{lu'} and {luq} mean "yes" in the sense of "yes, sure, ok".

Other english "yes" could match with {Qochbe'} "agree".

I see a lot of people using {HIja'} for all the various meanings of "yes",
but it's supposed to be for answering a yes/no question.


>jIH       parHa'    Sov  nuqDaq SoH tu'
>I   would like   to know where  you find(found) moq.

First, because you are asking where he found the word, we know that you
would like to know; other wise you wouldn't be asking.  So we'll drop the
first half of the sentence and be more direct.
"Where did you find {moq}."
[you] is the subject.
[find] is the verb.  Page 33 of TKD shows a verb prefix chart.  Looking at
the chart, when [you] is the subject and [it] is the object, the prefix we
want is Da-.
[{moq}] is the object.  Above I said that [it] is the object.  The word
{moq} is not a person.  It's not a "you" or a "we", it is an "it".
[where] turns this into a question.  Questions are covered on page 68 of
TKD.  The question word where/nuqDaq comes at the beginning of the sentence.

nuqDaq  {moq} Datu' SoH?

Because the prefix Da- implies that the subject is [you], you don't have to
include the pronoun SoH.  Adding the pronoun SoH would emphasis "you".
"Where did YOU find {moq}" as opposed to where did someone else find it.


> nuq                 wot.
>What is "revel" the verb.

First, "revel" is a typo.  He ment "rebel".  In english "rebel" is both a
noun and a verb.  He was making sure the other person was aware that lotlh
was the verb "rebel" and not the person "rebel".  The person would be a
lotlhwI'.


>      neH  mu' jIH tu'              moQ,
> The only word I   find (found) was moQ,

neH (only, merely) follows the word it modifies.
The object is {moQ}.
The verb is... it isn't [find]...
The subject is... it's not [I], it is [the word]; what word?  [the word
which I found].  This is a relative clause, page 63.  [find] is part of the
relative clause and receives the suffix -bogh.  So if [find] is in the
relative clause, what's the verb?  Section 6.3 "To be" starting on page 67
talks about pronouns acting as a "to be" verb.  So here the verb is the
pronoun [it].


First we'll figure out that relative clause.

"the only word which I found" (remember {neH} goes after {mu'})
mu' neH vItu'bogh jIH

[find] is a verb (even tho it's in this relative clause) so it gets one of
those verb prefixes I mentioned earlier from page 33.  The subject of the
verb [find] is [I], the object is [it], so the prefix is vI-.
Again, the pronoun jIH isn't need.

mu' neH vItu'bogh  -  This phrase (a relative clause) is the subject to our
original sentence.

I said that the verb of the main sentence is the pronoun [it] being used as
a "to be" type of verb.  When a pronoun is used as a "to be" type of verb,
the subject needs to be marked with the noun suffix -'e'.  The subject of
the main sentence is [the word (which I found)].  So -'e' gets attached to
{mu'}.

{moQ} 'oH mu''e' neH vItu'bogh


>      qej   moQ.
>which means sphere.

{qej} is "mean" as in "grouchy", a bad attitude.
This phrase we'll make a second sentence.
{sphere} 'oS {moQ}.


>jIH        bel        SoH lugh    -wI pab     'ej -wI mugh.
>I would be Pleased if you correct my  grammar and my translation.

First, the suffix -wI should be -wI'.  The ' has to be on there.
Second, the suffix -wI' refers to beings capable of language.  The
suffix -wIj is possessive refering to things.
As stated, -wIj is a suffix; it gets attached to the thing which is being
possessed.  pabwIj "my grammar".

mugh is the verb "translate", not the noun "translation".

"...if you correct ..."
[correct] is the verb.  The [if] is handled by the verb suffix -chugh.
... DalughmoHchugh ...   "... if you cause it to be correct..."

{'ej} is [and] when connecting sentences.  When you are connecting nouns you
use {je}.  Also, {je} goes at the end of the list of nouns that are being
connected.

pabwIj DalughmoHchugh  jIbel


>      SoH, T'Anna Kirk.
>Thank you, T'Anna Kirk.

We do have a word for [thank], but... Klingons do not say "thank you" as
freely as humans.  If you saved my life or the life of my first born, I
would say "thank you".  If you held a door open for me, I would not say
"thank you".

"I thank you"
Subject is [I]
Verb is [thank]
Object is [you]
When subject is [I] and the object is [you], the verb prefix is qa-.
qatlho'


DloraH, BG  (DaH jIQongnIS)

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