tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Mar 22 00:15:06 2002

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RE: [KLBC] -bogh thingie



> I wanted to translate: "I think you know what I want to say". My guess
> would be:
>
> vIjatlh vIneHbogh DaSov 'e' vIQub

First, let's look at basic sentence structure, OVS (Object-Verb-Subject).

The main verb is /Qub/.
The prefix vI- implies the subject /(jIH)/.
The object is /'e'/.  /'e'/ represents the previous sentence.

The previous sentence is, well, a sentence.  It too needs a OVS.
The verb is /Sov/.
The prefix Da- implies the subject /(SoH)/.
The object is...  What's the object?
qech - idea
mu'  - word
mu'tlhegh - sentence

jIjatlh - I speak
jIjatlh vIneH - I want to speak (I speak, I want that)
mu' vIjatlh - I speak words
mu' vIjatlh vIneH - I want to speak words (I speak words, I want that)
mu' vIjatlh vIneHbogh... - The {I speak words} which I want...
Hmm, the wanting refers to the whole sentence /mu' vIjatlh/.  How do we
refer to the words which you speak?  A relative clause with a -bogh?
mu' vIjatlhbogh vIneH - I want the words which I speak.
mu' vIjatlhbogh vIneHbogh ... - The words that I speak, which I want ...
But now the /want/ is pointing to the wrong place.  You don't want words,
you want to say words.  So how do we get /Sov/ to point to /mu'/ but keep
/neH/ pointing to /jatlh/?

Recast.

qech vIQubbogh DaSov - "You know the idea which I'm thinking."

wej mu' vIjatlhbogh DaSov - "You know the words which I have not yet
spoken".  Or is that - "You know the three words which I have spoken"?
Also, "words that I have not spoken"  doesn't necessarily mean the words
that I am about to speak.  I have not spoken many Chinese words; Do you know
all those words that I haven't spoken?

Klingon doesn't have tense.
mu' vIjatlh - "I spoke words", "I speak words", "I will speak words".
mu' vIjatlhbogh... - "Words that I have spoken", "Words that I am speaking",
"Words that I will speak".

mu' vIjatlhbogh DaSov - "You know the words that I will speak."

And of course the option given by Will (with help from charghwI', no doubt)
is good, and is in a manner that is clear and understandable.
Based on his, perhaps:
mu'wIj vIjatlhpu'be' 'ach DaSovlaw'
"I have not spoken my words, but you apparently know them."


DloraH, BG



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