Re: Learning Project (hopefully)

["Gina Robertson" <torres213@earthlink.net>]

Thanks.  I will work on it
vumjI 'oH??
or 'oH vumjI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Boozer" <sboozer@midway.uchicago.edu>
To: <tlhIngan-Hol@kli.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: Learning Project (hopefully)


> Gina wrote:
>
> >I'm not sure any of these are right so anyone who can help me understand
why
> >they are wrong, please do.
>
> Since you didn't flag the Subject line with "KLBC" for the attention of
the
> Beginning Grammarian, I'll comment.
>
> > > The prisoner eats.
> >
> >Okay, in this one I think eats would be the verb and prisoner would be
the
> >subject and there is no object:
> >   Sop qama' ( not sure about how this is done )
>
> Correct.
>
> > > The officer kills the prisoner.
> >
> >This one kills is the verb, the person being killed is the prisoner, so
that
> >is the subject and the officer would be the object???
> >   yaS HoH qama'
>
> That means:  "The prisoner kills the officer."
>
> The subject is the one acting (in this case, the one doing the
> killing).  The object receives the action of the verb (in this case, the
> one being killed).  Klingon word order is object - verb - subject ("OVS"
> for short).  All together this becomes:
>
>    qama' HoH yaS.
>    The officer kills the prisoner.
>
>    yaS HoH qama'.
>    The prisoner kills the officer.
>
> > > The woman sees the man.
> >
> >In this one sees would be the verb, man would be the subject and woman
would
> >be the object...or is the woman the subject because she is doing the
seeing?
>
> The latter:  "the woman" = subject, "sees" = verb, "the man" = object.
>
>    loD legh be'.
>    The woman sees the man.
>
> >I'm not sure about this one...
> >be' legh loD or is it loD leghbe'
>
>    be' legh loD
>    The man sees the woman.
>
>    loD leghbe'.
>    He/She does not see the man.
>
> {-be'} is a suffix meaning "not", which negates the action of the verb.
Be
> careful not to confuse the noun {be'} "woman" with the verb suffix {-be'}
> "not".
>
> By itself, {legh} is a verb in the third person with what we call a "zero
> prefix", that is you can't see it.  Without any context - that is, if the
> subject and object are not known - it can be translated variously as:
>
>    legh.
>    He sees him/her/it/them.
>    She sees him/her/it/them.
>    They see them.
>
> > > The man runs.
> >
> >Man would be the object and runs would be the verb.
> >   qetloD
>
> "man" = subject (the one doing the running);  there is no object in this
> sentence.  Thus:
>
>    qet loD.
>    The man runs.
>
> Be careful to separate the words.
>
> > > A prisoner drinks water.
> >
> >uummm.  drinks is the verb, prisoner is the subject because it is doing
the
> >drinking and water is the object????
>
> Right.
>
> >I'm not sure about this one.
> >bIQ tlhutlh qama'
>
> Correct!
>
> > > A woman drinks liquor.
> >
> >Same with this, I'm not sure, but I think Liquor is the object, drinks is
> >the verb and woman is the subject.
>
> Right, but remember Klingon OVS word order.  It's the opposite from
> English, which Okrand did intentionally to make it feel more "alien".
>
> >be' tlhutlh HIq
>
> This means:  "The liquor drinks a woman." (!?)
>
>    HIq tlhutlh be'.
>    A woman drinks liquor.
>
> If it's easier, remember that in Klingon the subject always FOLLOWS the
verb:
>
>    tlhutlh be'.
>    The woman drinks.
>
>    tlhutlh loD.
>    The man drinks.
>
> ... and the object always PRECEDES the verb:
>
>    HIq tlhutlh.
>    He drinks liquor.
>    She drinks liquor.
>
>    HIq tlhutlh be'.
>    The woman drinks liquor.
>
>    bIQ tlhutlh loD.
>    The man drinks water.
>
> And you can add the negative suffix {-be'} to the verb to say that the
> action does not occur:
>
>    HIq tlhutlhbe'.
>    He doesn't drink liquor.
>    She doesn't drink liquor.
>
>    tlhutlhbe' be'.
>    The woman doesn't drink.
>    The woman isn't drinking.
>
>    tlhutlhbe' loD.
>    The man doesn't drink.
>    The man isn't drinking.
>
>    HIq tlhutlhbe' be'.
>    The woman doesn't drink liquor.
>    The woman isn't drinking liquor.
>
>    bIQ tlhutlhbe' loD.
>    The man doesn't drink water.
>    The man isn't drinking water.
>
> Mastering Klingon OVS word order is the crucial first step.  Until it
> becomes automatic, you'll always be confused since you won't know who is
> doing what to whom!
>
>
> --
> Voragh
> Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
>