| Torch: |
ghotpu' qan, nuvpu' rop, puqpu' Qupqu' je jonbogh mIl'oD'e' rur DIS poH bIr.
nagh rur DIS poH bIr; naghvam yorDaq taHlaHbe' tI.
neb wIH, pachDu' jej joq rur DIS poH bIr.
meqvammo' pItlhob; majatlh: <<Supbogh DIS poH tuj loDHom Darur. yav DungDaq
bImI'jaj. vaj nuleghjaj SoSlI' 'oHbogh pem Hov'e' 'ej HelIjDaq taHjaj tI 'IH.>> |
| Smooth translation: |
The cold season resembles a sabre bear which seizes old people, ill people, and
very young children.
The cold season resembles a rock; on the upper surface of this rock, vegetation
cannot endure.
The cold season resembles a ruthless beak and/or sharp talons.
For this reason we plead with you. We say: "You resemble a jumping hot season's
boy. May you dance over the ground. Then may the daytime star which is your
mother see us and may beautiful vegetation continue on your route." |
| Translation of previous torch |
Winter is a wolf which takes the old, the sick, and the youngest.
Winter is a rock upon which no plant is able to grow.
Winter is a cruel beak and sharp claws.
Because of this, we pray to you, who are the bounding-along boy of spring. May
you dance over the ground
So that the Sun which is your mother may look down upon us
And flowers grow up from the path you have taken. |
| Glossary/mini dictionary |
Nouns:
DIS year
DIS poH time of year; season
Dung area above
ghot person
He route, course
Hov star
pem Hov daytime star; sun
loDHom boy
meq reason
mIl'oD type of animal (sabre bear)
nagh rock, stone
neb beak, bill (of a bird)
nuv person
pach claw, talon
pem daytime
pem Hov daytime star; sun
poH period of time
DIS poH season
puq child
SoS mother
tI vegetation
yav ground
yor exterior top
Noun suffixes:
-Daq locative suffix: to, in, at, on
-Du' plural marker (for body parts)
-lI' your (singular) (object possessed is animate)
-lIj your (singular) (object possessed is inanimate)
-mo' because of ..., due to ...
-pu' plural marker (for people capable of speech)
-vam demonstrative marker: this
-'e' topic marker; also (optionally) used to mark the head
noun in a relative clause construction (e.g. from {yaS
qIppu' puq} "the child hit the officer", we get {yaS
qIppu'bogh puq} which is either "the officer whom the
child hit" [raising the object of the clause] or "the
child who hit the officer" [raising the subject of the
clause]; {yaS'e' qIppu'bogh puq} is unambiguously "the
officer whom the child hit" while {yaS qIppu'bogh puq'e'}
is unambiguously "the child who hit the officer. yaS =
officer; qIppu' = hit (perfective); puq = child)
Verbs:
jatlh speak, say (when used to mark a quotation, the verb
takes a prefix marking "no object"; the words spoken
are simply placed afterwards)
jon capture, seize, take
legh see
mI' dance, run in place, do calisthenics, exercise, do
martial arts movements (any physical activity which
results in no change other than, perhaps, the
well-being of the person performing the action)
rur resemble
Sup jump
taH continue, go on, endure, survive
tlhob request, ask, plead
'oH [in this text may be translated as] to be; is
({A 'oH B'e'} = B is [an] A)
Verb prefixes:
bI- subject = you (singular); object = none
Da- subject = you (singular); object = him/her/it
ma- subject = we; object = none
nu- subject = he/she/it; object = us
pI- subject = we; object = you (singular)
(none) subject = he/she/it; object = him/her/it/them
subject = they; object = them
Verb suffixes:
-be' (negative marker)
-bogh relative-clause marker
-jaj may ...; let ... (expresses a wish or desire)
-laH be able to
Adjectives: (these are considered verbs in the traditional Klingon
grammar)
bIr cold
jej sharp
qan old (not young)
Qup young
rop ill, sick
tuj hot
wIH ruthless
'IH beautiful, handsome
Adjective suffixes:
-qu' very, extremely
Conjunctions:
je and (joins nouns: {A B C je} = A and B and C)
joq and/or (joins nouns: {A B C joq} = A and/or B and/or C)
vaj so, then, thus, in that case, so that
'ej and (joins sentences) |
| Grammar notes |
The basic sentence structure is O-V-S. Adverbials typically occur at the
beginning of a sentence; this includes phrases describing the reason (noun or
clause with {-mo'}) or location (noun with {-Daq}) of an action. It may be
easiest to identify the verb in a sentence first, then any adverbials and
sentence conjunctions that may be present; the remainder, in a simple sentence,
will be object (before the verb) and/or subject (after the verb).
Verbs are marked with a prefix indicating both the subject and the object (a
special case is the null prefix, which indicates 3rd person subject and 3rd
person object except for the combination plural subject and singular object).
Adjectives come after the noun they modify. Nouns can modify one another in the
sequence possessor-possessed (e.g. {puq} = child; {juH} = home; {puq juH} = the
child's home / a child's home / a home of the child / the home of a child); any
of the nouns in such a noun-noun construction may also be followed by adjectives
or suffixes. There are no definite or indefinite articles.
Sentences are transformed into relative clauses by adding {-bogh} to the verb;
the head noun of this clause can be either the subject or the object of the
original sentence. If desired, the head noun can be marked explicitly with the
noun suffix {-'e'}. (See also the glossary under {'e'}.)
Locative phrases deserve a bit of explanation: instead of prepositions, Klingon
uses noun-noun constructions with the {-Daq} locative suffix on the secound
noun. For example, from {raS} "table", {yor} "exterior top", and {Dung} "area
above", we get {raS yorDaq} "at the table's exterior top = on top of the table"
and {raS DungDaq} "at the table's area-above = over the table, above the table".
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