tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 22 04:32:08 2003
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Re: KLBC How Smooth...
Tree d'Eris wrote:
>Tree chopong. naDev jIchu'.
Greetings, and welcome to the list, Tree!
My Name is Quvar, I am the current Beginners' Grammarian, my job here is to help out newcomers and beginners in learning Klingon. I correct grammar
and provide advice for those trying to learn Klingon. If you put KLBC at the beginning of 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. If possible, you
should also include what you were trying to say, in English. This will make it easier for me to make sure that you say what you are trying to say.
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
The FAQ will certainly answer many of your first questions, and it provides information about how you can learn Klingon and use this mailing list, and the
KLBC.
Now I'll go on to your questions:
> Tree chopong.
maj. (good). That's correct, if you wanted to say "You call me Tree".
If you intended to command us to call you "Tree", you need the imperative prefix for "You (plural)-me": {HI-}
{*Tree HIpong}
"call me tree"
> naDev jIchu'.
"I'm new here." majQa'. TKD Daghajba'. (Da- ghaj -ba')
>Hab 'ar SoSlI Quch - does this mean "how smooth
>is your mothers forehead"?
No. The question word {'ar} is only used with nouns, meaning "how much" or "how many". It follows the noun to which it refers, can never follow a noun
with a plural suffix: {Haw'pu' yaS 'ar?} "How many officers fled?" {nIn 'ar wIghaj?} "How much fuel do we have?"
To ask "How [adjective] is something?", I don't know how to say. It's tricky, and there has been a discussion about this here lately, but I don't remember
the result. Others on the list certainly do. *hint* ;-)
>Do I use Habghach ? tugh chojang.
To make a noun using the nominalizer type 9 {-ghach}, there is at least one other suffix required, i.e. {-ghach} cannot be attached to a bare verb. So
*Habghach* won't work.
Now coming to something else: If you'd use a noun on that place of the sentence, then you would have replaced the verb {Hab} "be smooth", and it's no
longer a sentence.
You could try to solve this problem using {chay'} "how", as in {chay' jura?} "What are your orders?" {chay' nguv?} "What color is it?"
Attention, this "how" is not the same how as in "how much", it's more in the meaning of "in what kind of way".
I hope I could help you a bit, and certainly other people on the list will help you with this problem. But if you want my attention for questions or corrections,
don't forget to put KLBC in the subject line. What language resources do you have already? Feel free to ask questions, analyze other people's messages,
and attempt your own. Hope to read you soon!
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH