tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Nov 03 16:36:31 2002

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Re: KLBC: Some Sentences of Varying Difficulty



ghItlh maQ:

>I wasn't really sure where to start...
The most important thing is that you *do* start somewhere. :-)
And you did a good start!

>sentences I came up with and translated.  Let me know if you see any 
>problems, Quvar, or if you see important issues I've skipped over.
I will do that with pleasure, as it's my job as BG.

>chalDaq Hoch Sang puyjaq.
>The nova obliterates everything in the sky.
That's correct. Although I dunno what this might look like.

>HIgh romuluSnganpu'vetlh.
>Those Romulans fight dirty.
maj.

>DaHjaj QonoS ghItlhbe'pu'.
>I did not write in a journal.
You missed the prefix: "I-him/her/it" {vI-} You need it, because you have an object: the journal.
The verb {ghItlh} means "to write", and refers to the physical act of writing. If you write 
"something", there are other words, like {qon} "record, compose", {gher} "formulate, compile, pull 
together".
And in your english translation, you forgot the the word "today".

   DaHjaj QonoS vIgherpu'be'.
   Today, I did not formulate a journal.

>yIQutqu'be'!
>Don't you dare be vulgar!
When giving a command to *not* do something, there is a suffix {-Qo'}. We could say it's the 
imperative of {-be'}. Read TKD 4.3. "Rovers" for more information.

   yIQutQo'!
   Don't be vulgar!

>qagh SoptaH'a' vulqanganvam?
>This Vulcan eats gagh?
When you use the #7 continuous-suffix {-taH}, then the question is, if the vulcan is "continuously" 
eating, and not more general if he "does" eat Gagh.

   qagh SoptaH'a' vulqanganvam?
   Is this Vulcan eating Gagh?

   qagh Sop'a' vulqanganvam?
   Does this Vulcan eat Gagh?

>cha baHta' chunDabqoqvetlh!
>That so-called meteor has fired torpedoes!
Okay, this definitely makes no sense, but it is correct.

>mawbe'bej ta'! [followed by a hard right cross]
>The emperor certainly is not crazy!
     Followed by what?
A little ' can make a big difference: You wrote {maw}, which is "to offend". To "be razy" is {maw'}, 
with a glottal stop at the end. This is also *heard* when you say it, so you see that also 
pronunciation is important.

>verenganmey tu'lu' jay'!
>There are &*$@^# Ferengi all over the place!
To be 100 percent correct, you need to say {lutu'lu'} "someone discovers them". But this is one of the 
few mistakes that are somehow "okay" and overseen. [I don't remember the source for the reason.]

>it, but it's not in TKD that I can find.)
It's in the addendum of TKD, page 185.

>pawpu' mu'ghomwIj tlhIngan Hol.
>My Klingon Dictionary has arrived.
"Klingon Dictionary" is {tlhIngan Hol mu'ghom}, meaning literally "dictionary of klingon language"

>rojmeH jIghoSta'bogh peQubbe'.
>Do not think that I have come to make peace.
You've done very well so far, but this one needs some explanations.
- first word:
It is you, who makes peace, so you need the prefix {jI-} "I": {jIrojmeH}
- second:
{ghoS} means "approach, go away from, proceed". Yes, sometimes it can also mean "come", but that's 
only another way of saying "approach to here", like in {HIghoS} "come here" (literally: "proceed 
towards me")
Now verb#9 suffix {-bogh}. Since you just received TKD, I suggest you read section 6.2.3. about 
"Relative clauses". Briefly, this suffix means "that" in the sense of "which".
What you want, is the other "that", like it's used in "I know that I know nothing."
For this kind of sentences, in Klingon we use the pronoun {'e'}. You can read in TKD section 6.2.5. 
"Sentences as objects".
I'll explain it very shortly, but I still recommend you read TKD.

This pronoun {'e'} replaces a sentence, and makes it the object of a verb like "know", or "see".
I'll explain with the example from TKD:
   {qama'pu' DIHoH} "we kill prisoners"
That's the sentence.
Next sentence is 
   {luSov} "they know"
Now, the object of this sentence is the first sentence, and we'll use the pronoun {'e'} as the object, 
like we do it with any other noun:
   {'e' luSov} "they know that"
Of course you still need to mention the first sentence - always - because otherwise how can you know 
what "they know"?
   {qama'pu' DIHoH 'e' 1uSov} "They know we kill prisoners."

(I hope this was not too confusing)

- third word: Qub.
{Qub} is just "think", not think something. Actually, when you "think" that s.th. is, then you do 
"believe" that it is. And we have a verb for that: {Har} "believe".
How to tell someone not to do something, I told you above already: use {-Qo'}.
The prefix you need here is the imperative one for "you(pl)-it" {yI-} (the object is {'e'})

Now let's put all of this together:

  jIrojmeH jIpaw 'e' yIHarQo'.
  Do not believe that I arrived to make peace.

Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
  ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH




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