tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 06 06:45:02 2003
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Re: I'm a new member
les wrote:
> nuqneH Noel, I am new to the tIhInqan language only started to read about
> it yesterday,and i t only started as a joke between me and my brothers,
Greetings, and welcome to the list, les!
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.
Maybe you can introduce yourself (in english or klingon) or show us how much klingon you know so far.
Do you have any Klingon books? If you really want to learn Klingon, you do need The Klingon Dictionary. There's many other sources, but this TKD contains the
basics you need to know in order to learn and speak klingon.
You also need it, so that we can tell you where to look up some answers, because we cannot explain *everything*. (Well, we can, but that might be too difficult for
you.) Have you been thinking about a Klingon name yet? Where are you from?
> it yesterday,and i t only started as a joke between me and my brothers,
> Having said that after looking at the language I would like to learn more
So does that mean you know *nothing* about the language?
Please tell me, how did you get to this? Are you (or your brothers) Star Trek fans, or even Klingon fans, or students in linguistics? (I'm just being a little curious :-)
> but at the moment tIhInqan jIya'jbe hope that is the right way of
> saying i dont understand klingon but i will try
I see that you've found some words and affixes, and they are in the correct order. maj. (="Good!")
{tlhIngan} "Klingon"
This word describes only a person, "a Klingon". If you mean the language, you say literally "Klingons' language": {tlhIngan Hol}
{jI-} "I (no object)"
This prefix is used to indicate that there is no object, i.e. nobody or nothing is being involved. Here some examples to explain:
{jIyaj} "I understand"
{jIghung} "I'm hungry"
{jItlhIj} "I apologize"
{jIpuv} "I fly"
But you do have an object here: the klingon language (that's what you do not understand).
There is a set of prefixes (described in TKD section 4.1.), and the one for "I (do s.th. to) him/her/it" is {vI-}
{vIlegh} "I see it"
{jItlhIj} "I apologize"
{vIyaj} "I understand him"
In section 6.1. we are told that "The basic structure of a Klingon sentence is: OBJECT-VERB-SUBJECT"
{tlhIngan Hol} as the object comes first, then the verb with its affixes: {vIyajbe'}
{tlhIngan Hol vIyajbe'}
"I don't understand Klingon"
From the list of useful expressions in TKD:
"I cannot speak Klingon."
{tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhlaHbe'}
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