tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 22 08:54:54 2003

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Re: KLBC How Smooth...



From: "Quvar valer (Lieven)" <[email protected]>

> >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* ;-)

There is no way to do this in Klingon.  You have to word it differently.

One way is to ask about a specific condition:

loQ Hab'a' SoSlI' Quch?
Is your mother's forehead slightly smooth?

tlhoy Hab'a' SoSlI' Quch?
Is your mother's forehead too smooth?
(/tlhoy/ is one of the words on the New Words List, at
/tlh/newwords.html)

Another way is to phrase it as a command:

SoSlI' Quch yIDel!
Describe your mother's forehead!

SuStel
Stardate 3306.1


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