tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 09 04:05:06 2002
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Re: KLBC: Worst-Case Scenarios
Am 08.11.2002 14:09:04, schrieb "Lee Herndon" <[email protected]>:
>Indeed so. I seem to be having enough trouble with the standard forms I
>don't yet want to try remembering what I can clip and what I shouldn't.
Yes, you should first learn how to use the affixes before you start to drop them.
>>"is he in the building, the doctor?"
>Yeah...that's what I was trying to say. I don't know how I messed it up
>that badly.
This happens. Sometimes sentences can be more complicated than you expect before you translate them.
>Okay...wasn't sure on that one.
Only remember that the so-called "aspect markers" don't mean "past tense".
It does not say that something happened in the *past*, it says that it *did* happen (and, of course,
if it happened, it was in the past.)
You can also say {wa'leS qaHoHta'} "tommorrow, I will have killed you"
>Shortly...I'm just making some quick replies.
take your time ;-)
>Purposely. Truthfully, I don't know how much Klingons apologize--similar to
>thanking others.
Klingons don't apologize.
But there's a word for that: {tlhIj}
>But if you think it's a good idea...
No, it was a good idea not to translate!
>jIQoS.
that's okay.
>Ouch. *wince* You know, though it probably is just my inattention, one of
>my shift keys (and I use the left one almost exclusively)
Interesting, I always use the right one :-)
Daj wanI'; reH nIH leQ vIlo'.
>That might possibly be the source of my capitalization problems.
yItlhIjQo'! QaghmeylIj tIchID, yIyoH! (TKW) ;-)
>Then when it was pointed out to me, I looked again and there it was.
I know this from the time when I started.
>>I would suggest "identify the ships' velocity"
>> {Duj Do yIngu'}
>Sounds workable. That brings up a question I've been meaning to ask. How
>much can the "more than/less than" idiom be adapted?
I've been thinking about that also lately, so I cannot answer directly.
The only thing I can say that I have never seen it used other than {law'/puS}
>Can you flip it around?
And why would you flip it around? The meaning will be the same:
(example from TKWp53)
1) {batlh potlh law' yIn potlh puS}
"Honor is more important than life"
2) {yIn potlh puS batlh potlh law'}
"life is less important than Honor"
In Klingon, this is actually two ideas: (1) "Honor important many" (2) "Life important few", and
they got used to say the one which is "more" on the first place.
>Can law' be separately used for "more" and puS for "less"?
I'd say no. Those words are verbs, meaning "be many" and "be few" resp., and not "more" or "less".
{quv potlh law'} doesn't make sense on its own, or at least it's not about being more than
something.
TKD, section 6.6 confirms this with following phrase:
"In comparative and superlative constructions, the verb of quality must be said twice."
>Synonyms again. I've got to hurry with that word list.
practicing is the best way to learn the vocabulary. I must admit that I've virtually *never* sat
down with TKD to actively learn vocabulary, or suffix type numbers, nor prefixes. You just get used
to them when you use them regularly. But of course, this method takes time...
>>2. You used the plural-prefix {ma-}
>On purpose. The main uses I could think of for this question involved
>leaving together.
Okay. Perhaps net time you give me also a translation in english of what you really want to say
(even when it sounds weird in english).
>Looks like the Spanish analogy is messing me up. I mentioned to someone
>that Spanish verbs have different endings depending on their subjects, and
>now I'm talking in double negatives.
>I wasn't sure whether "not" would emphasize the refusal or reverse it.
{not} is like english "never" (or spanish "jamás"); it says that what follows will never happen:
{qajatlhQo'}
"I refuse to talk to you"
{not qajatlhQo'}
"I never refuse to talk to you"
{not qajatlh}
"I never talk to you"
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH