tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 17 19:48:06 2002
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RE: [KLBC] some more questions
> One has been on my mind for quite some time... how do I say "I think about
> something"? Or "dream about something"? I could use "something causes me
to
> think" but that's not quite the same...
There are different ways to handle this depending on the full intended
meaning.
buS - concentrate on, focus on, think only about
vay' vIbuS - I think about something
naj - dream. Unfortunately this is not glossed as "dream about".
We do have canon for naj. (PK)
bInajtaHvIS qeylIS Daghomjaj - "May you encounter Kahless in your dreams."
> There's a verb for "be excellent", but how can I say "he fought
> excellently"? I
> could use "his fightings were excellent" but is there no way to
> modify the verb?
> If only there had been a "in a good manner" verb suffix. :) (Yes, there's
> "perfectly", but how do I simply say "good"?)
If you don't think -chu' fits in with what you want, then you can try
multiple sentences.
Suv. po'. pov. nIv.
(Even in four sentences, it's still shorter than the english.)
"in a good manner", hmm, maybe batlh.
batlh Suv.
> Also, just verifying this... there is no ? and no ! in Klingon?
> Since both questions and commands are handled grammatically?
Some people don't like punctuation, others don't care. Use them if you
wish. As you pointed out, ? isn't really needed because the way klingon
constructs questions. We don't know anything about klingon punctuation; but
then, we're writing this klingon using terran symbols.
> And the final question... to practice, I often try to translate
> random English
> texts into Klingon. The other day I came across "within a 50 mile
> radius". Apart
> from the fact that there's no Klingon word for mile, I have no
> clue how to translate this. Can you help?
Sure, klingon doesn't have a word for "mile", but then english doesn't have
a word for the Japanese "yen".
Klingon does have a unit of distance called qelI'qam, which is about two
kilometers. So 50 miles would be about 42 qelI'qam. (For converting cheb
and 'uj I have a nifty conversion chart on my website
www2.rpa.net/~cheesbro )
Saying "Within 42 qelI'qam" depends on the bigger picture.
loSmaH qelI'qam Hop law' qama' Hop puS
"The prisoner is somewhere within 40 qelI'qam"
loSmaH qelI'qam Hop law' Hoch HeghwI' Hop puS
"Everyone within 40 qelI'qam will die"
loSmaH qelI'qamDaq ghoSlu'pa' mebpa'mey lutu'lu'bogh:
"Hotels within 40 qelI'qam:"
"Hotels which are found before one travels along 40 qelI'qam:"
(law'/puS is covered more in TKD p70, and KGT p178)
> Oh, and one last quick question... is there a Klingon word for
> "ten million"? If not, how do I say "40 million"?
TKD only lists up to million. This doesn't mean there isn't anything
higher, it's just at the time MO wrote TKD he didn't see the need. What are
you talking about that has a quantity of 40 million?
Up to million we see a pattern that looks like each position has it's own
unique label. Does the pattern continue? Or does it start to group these
smaller units together like english does? We don't know.
If you really need to express 40 million, under the circumstance I don't
think anyone will stone you for combining terms like loSmaH 'uy'. Just be
aware that it might not be right.
DloraH, BG