[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: ngem

[Robyn Stewart]

Some great translations, and some fun things to correct here. I'm going to
give you a piece of general advice and give you a chance to correct these,
and then hand the corrections over to 'arHa, so he can do his job.  

The biggest general piece of advice I'm going to give you is this: a
properly constructed Klingon sentence really does say what it means. It
starts with setting information, which may be time and or place or how (i.e.
adverbs). There is then maybe an object, definitely a verb, and maybe a
subject.  This pattern may be repeated for a number of clauses. Anything
that doesn't seem to fit in this pattern should make you suspect you
misunderstood. There is not a great need to interpolate or make up extra
connecting material in order for it to make sense. If you find yourself
doing that, you may have misinterpreted the words. Yes, English translations
contain articles and verb tense words that aren't in the Klingon, and
sometimes they stray into different English translations, but if you say
something in English and I translate it into Klingon, ghunchu'wI' can
translate it back into English without guessing or losing information on the
way.
 
> > jangvIp qama'.
> I will not accommodate your fear to speak.

I thought as I wrote the word qama' that this could happen, but if qama'
here means "I accommodate", what possible role in the sentence would jangvIp
be playing?  The object of a verb beginning in qa- must be you, and jangvIp
is a verb, so cannoy be the object of the verb.  Reanalyze this one, and
'arHa will help you out with any remaining issues.

If I were to translate your English into Klingon it would be
{jangvIpghachlIj vIma'be'}, or more probably {jangvipghachlIj vIma'Qo'} or
{jangvIpghachlIj vIma'qangbe'}, because it sounds a bit more like a refusal
or unwillingness than a statement about what you'll do in the future.

> > be' qIHvIp loDvetlh.
> That boy is afraid to meet the girl for the first time.

pup. maj.

> > pumvIp lIghwI'.
> The rider is afraid to fall.

pov. lIghwI' Dayaj. 

> > jagh DacholvIp'a'? <-- careful, you need to take the prefix off the
> > verb before you look it up.
> Will you scream if, as you fear, they approach?[Robyn Stewart] 

I think you must enjoy poetry, maybe even you write it. You're having a
marvellous time figuring out ways to fit the bits you've understood into an
English sentence, but really if Klingon worked that way, no one would
understand one another when we spoke it. There is a Klingon way to say "if"
and it's not in this sentence.  It's simpler than what you're trying there.
You're correct that there's a question being asked. You've looked up or
remembered a word incorrectly.  Try perhaps translating the sentence without
-vIp, and then add in the meaning of -vIp.

Your English sentence would be .. hmm... {chol chaH 'e' DaHaj. qaSchugh
bIjach'a'?} Anyone playing is welcome to suggest alternatives.

> > ngaghwI' ta'mey qelvIp 'amerIqa'ngan SoS.
> The American's mother is afraid to take into account her mate's (many)
> accomplishments

This one was a little challenging, but I see from your correct
interpretation of 'amerI'qa'ngan SoS (despite my spelling error) that you
know the noun-noun form. But for some reason you went astray with the other
noun-noun. Let's say for a moment that you looked up ngagh and misread the
entry as being a noun rather than a verb--likely what happened.  You then
saw the suffix -wI' and though it must be the noun suffix -wI'. But I still
don't see how it became your translation. When it stopped making sense, you
should have backed up and checked what was going on. ngagh is a verb.
Re-analyze and away 'arHa's patient enthusiasm.
 
> > Qov lobHa'vIpbe' qunnoq HoD. <-- Qov and qunnoq HoD are both people's
> > names
> Captain {qunnoq} is afraid to disobey Qov.

Close.  Do you know what the suffix -be' means?

cholobHa'vIp'a'?

DuQaHvIpbe' 'arHa.  

-Qov