Trying Klingon

[OmnificienT]

I already posted this in the Klingon only thread, but pure Klingon is a bit too hard for me I just realised : -)

I just wrote something down in English and then tried to translate it to Klingon:

Hello,

Trying out some klingon. Does it look right?

Bye!

nuqneH,

vInIDtaH tlhInganHom        //vI - Obj=I Subj=it nID=try taH= continuous tlhIngan = Klingon Hom = dimunitive(less)
chay''oH          // chay'=how 'oH = it

Could somebody explain in plain English what's not quite about right about this?

Thank You,

OmnificienT

[change title to be a bit more specific - Kythe]

[ter'eS]

I already posted this in the Klingon only thread, but pure Klingon is a bit too hard for me I just realised : -)

I just wrote something down in English and then tried to translate it to Klingon:

Hello,

Trying out some klingon. Does it look right?

Bye!

nuqneH,

vInIDtaH tlhInganHom        //vI - Obj=I Subj=it nID=try taH= continuous tlhIngan = Klingon Hom = dimunitive(less)
chay''oH          // chay'=how 'oH = it

Could somebody explain in plain English what's not quite about right about this?

Thank You,

OmnificienT

There are a few errors, and some usages that are strange, at least to me.

For the first sentence: First, the object of a Klingon sentence comes before the verb.  The name of the language is always written tlhIngan Hol; the word tlhIngan refers to a person, an inhabitant (ngan) of Qo'noS, "Klingon" is the language that person uses; and to me tlhInganHom refers to a small Klingon.  Next, although there is one canon phrase that uses -Hom in the sense of "some", it is very seldom used that way nowadays.  Really, the phrase works fine without it, and makes your Klingon more forceful and direct (the little "qualifying words" of English I suspect look very wimpy to a Klingon).  Lastly, you do have the correct verb prefix on nID, but my own stylistic preference would leave off the -taH.  Your effort as shown here on the page really isn't continuous; you made the effort to translate some sentences and then posted them, and the attempt is over until the next time you post.  Putting it all together, I would re-do your first sentence as tlhIngan Hol vInID.

The phrase chay' 'oH just doesn't work for me.  It is grammatical, in the sense that an adverbial (chay') plus pronoun ('oH) can form a valid sentence, but "How is it?" is basically an English idiom meaning something like "How do you think I did/Did I do it right?" and it just feels weird to me in Klingon.  I'd suggest something entirely different, such as mu'tlheghvam lugh'a' "Is this sentence correct?" (mu'tlhegh 'sentence', -vam 'this', lugh 'to be correct', -'a' forms a question).

I hope that helps.

[OmnificienT]

It helps indeed, but then tlhIngan Hol vInID would be translated something like: I try Klingon?

[ter'eS]

It helps indeed, but then tlhIngan Hol vInID would be translated something like: I try Klingon?

Right.  A more precise phrase would be tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh 'e' vInID "I try to speak Klingon." (jatlh "to speak"; 'e' conjunction needed to link a main verb with a verb as its "object").  You could also use lo' "to use" or ghItlh "to write" instead of jatlh, too.