[227] in tlhIngan-Hol
Grammarian Oversight
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed Mar 4 05:47:45 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: krankor@IMA.ISC.COM (Captain Krankor)
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 92 04:58:27 -0500
Yug. I just received and re-read my own posting, and noticed I'd allowed
an important error to slip through uncorrected. So I shall do so now.
yu'ghachvam jangghach mungeDlaw'! tlhInganpu'vaD mIghlaw' quvHa'.
"The answer to this question seems easy to me! Dishonour seems evil to
Klingons."
This was the original. When I was done with it, it became:
yu'vam jang mungeDlaw'! tlhInganpu'vaD mIghlaw' quvHa'ghach.
However, a glaring problem still remains. It's the same old subject/object
problem: In "The answer to this question seems easy to me", clearly the
subject is "The answer to this question". So the Klingon should be:
mungeDlaw' yu'vam jang! ...
So let me just stress it once again: Basic Klingon word order is:
[Extras] [object] verb [subject]
where [] means optional. object and subject are optional, of course,
in the case that they are pronouns, subsumed by the verb prefix. subject
is missing if the -lu' suffix is used on the verb. object is missing if
there is no object, as determined by the verb prefix.
"Extras" refers to adverbials and any non-object nouns. Non-object nouns
include locatives (naDev, pa', DujwIjDaq), indirect objects (chaHvaD), or
any other kind of noun with a type 5 suffix, acting as a prepositional
phrase (yuQvo', DIvI'mo'). Or any other noun that isn't subject or
object but needs a place (though usually Extras are one of the former
types).
Thus:
repmo' nom yuQDaq vulqanganvo' 'uQvaD chab luje'ta' yaSpu'
[---------Extras--------------------] [obj] [verb] [subj]
"Because of the hour, the officers quickly bought the pie for the
dinner from the Vulcan on the planet."
(If they'd had more time, I guess they would've tried to buy from a
Klingon merchant {{:-)
--Krankor
"I don't know what to tell you, you have to be able to parse or you're
going to fail!" --Prof. Jacques Cohen.
