tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 25 18:53:25 2002

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Re: KLBC: "Tadhg" lIH jIH

Welcome to the list, Tadhg!
My Name is Quvar, I am the current Beginners' Grammarian. My job here is to help out newcomers and beginners in learning Klingon, which means the people who 
did it before me have decided you can trust me to evaluate your work. Include the letters "KLBC" in the subject line of a message, it marks it as a beginner level topic. 
This may be a question for me, or just conversation with other beginners in general. KLBC is not limited onto to participation by beginners, though! Anyone may 
contribute. The rule here is that the first person allowed to discuss the grammar of a KLBC post is the BG (me). Once I've gotten through with it, if there are any 
corrections or additions you think of, go ahead and post.  This system keeps the beginner's confusion down to a minimum.

The two most important web sites to be aware of, if you are not already:

The Klingon Language Institute
http://www.kli.org

This list's FAQ:
http://www.bigfoot.com/~dspeers/klingon/faq.htm

Also, another good resource for learning Klingon is the free postal course that the Klingon Language Institute provides. You can find more information
about it at: /study/postcourse.html

you wrote:
>"Tadhg" lIH jIH
>[I introduce Tadhg]
Good, you found the right vocabulary, and you used the correct word order (object-verb-subject), so it seems you've read TKD.
You should read section 4.1 about verb prefixes. There you can see how klingon uses prefixes to show who (subject) is doing something to what (object).
In your sentence, the subject is "I", the object is "it" (tadhg). For that, there is a prefix {vI-} "I-him/her/it"
    {*tadhg* vIlIH}
    "I introduce tadhg"
As you do see, the word {jIH} "I, me" is not necessary, since the prefix already includes it.
You can use it though for emphasis:
    {*tadhg* vIlIH jIH}
    "_I_ introduce tadhg" (and not someone else)
(more about pronouns in section 5.1)

>nuqneH, "Tadhg" 'oH pongwIj'e'.
>[Greetings, My name is Tadhg]
majQa'. Well done.
You must know that {nuqneH} means literally "what (do you) want?", so it's not really a "greeting". It's just called as one, because that's the only word that we know 
of that klingons use when they meet.

>tlhIngan Hol tIv jiH.
>[I enjoy the Klingon Language]
Same as above, the prefix:
    {tlhIngan Hol vItIv}
    "I enjoy the Klingon Language"

>taghhwI''a' jiH.
>[I am an absolute beginer.]
That's very good. You got the right use of this type 1 suffix {-'a'}
also consider #3 suffix {-na'} "definite":
   {taghwI'na'}
   "a real beginner"

And you used a pronoun to translate "to be". maj!
Just watch your typos:
   {taghwI''a' jIH}
   "I am an absolute beginner."

><<HOH!>>  tIv jach be'nalwIj.
>[My wife enjoys yelling, "{HOH!}".] 
I think you mean {HoH} "Kill!".

What you have here is a so-called "sentence as object" (section 6.2.5.)
Actually you have two sentences in klingon:
  1. "she yells HoH"
       {HoH jach}
  2. "my wife enjoys it"
       {tIv be'nalwI'}
Put together: "my wife enjoys that she yells HoH"
In klingon, this "that"-part, which connects the two sentences, is translated with {'e'}:
       {HoH jach 'e' tIv be'nalwI'}
section 3.3.4. says about possessive suffixes:
"When the noun being possessed refers to a being capable of using language, a special set of suffixes is used for first- and second-person possessors"
So, I suppose that your wife is "capable of using language", so you need one of these prefixes:
    {be'nalwI'} "my wife"

>Hoch tlhIngon Hol, neH poQ je ghaH.
>[That is all the Klingon Language she wants and needs.]
typo {tlhIngan}
This is one of those sentences that you cannot translate like that. First, the conjunction {je} is only used with nouns, not verbs. Next, "...which she wants" will be 
translated using #9 suffix {-bogh}, and that will make this sentence so complicated I'd rather not tell you :-)
You could simply say 
   "she does not need another klingon language"
   {latlh tlhIngan Hol poQbe'}

>Ok those, were my first attempts to string together a sentence in Klingon,
>I hope I did OK.
You did very well, if these were your first attempts!
You've chosen some tough ones, but that's the best way to learn the (any) language, just jump into it and   u s e   i t. 

>I guess I caught the Klingon bug discovering a "rare" book on Klingon
>Martial arts, _Secret Fighting Arts of The Warrior Race_ by
>'HetaQ'. Besides teaching the {betleH} it has many phrases in tlhIngan Hol
>and pIqad.
{pIqaD}; yes, that's a very rare and interesting book. I cannot asses the value of the martial arts, but the {tlhIngan Hol} it contains is very nice and useful.

>Hol. Between this, pojwI' by d'Armond Speers, kli.org and
>http://www.startrek.com/library/klingon_linguistics.asp 
That's a good source for pronunciation. You should also try to get the tapes.

You did very well for your first message!
Just in case I explained too much or too less at once, just tell me. 
It's not possible to explain everything in detail right now, the mail would be too long and you wouldn't know where to start. Best place to start is always TKD
So, if you have any questions, just go ahead!

Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
  ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH

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