Thanks!
I only have access to the Klingon Dictionary atm so I didn't know those other words.
To be specific, I wasn't going for a title of a book, but an actual description of a book - "I am reading a book about Klingon anatomy", not "I am reading
Klingon Anatomy".
The first sentence would be something like
tlhIngan porghQeD bop paq 'e' vIlaDtaH. and the second
tlhIngan porghQeD vIlaDtaH., correct?
Almost, but not quite.
tlhIngan porghQeD bop paq 'e' vIlaDtaH. means something like "I'm reading that the book is about Klingon body-science." You want something more like
tlhIngan porghQeD bopbogh paq'e' vIlaDtaH., using the verb suffix -
bogh to construct a "X-which-Y-Z" phrase (in this case, "book-which-is-about-Klingon-body-science").
Now, I'm not sure if it should actually be
tlhIngan porgh ("the Klingon body") or
tlhIngan porghQeD ("the Klingon study of bodily functions", or "Klingon biology"); I'm thinking the first may be more appropriate, because the latter could be taken to mean "the field studied by Klingon biologists". I don't really know, though.
That looks good, but I'm not sure where italics fall with Klingon.
You could try
tlhIngan porghQeD ponglu' paq'e' 'e' vIlaDtaH "I am reading a book called
Klingon Physiology."
Are there any canonical examples of
pong being used as a verb? I'm not quite sure what its structure should be.
tlhIngan porghQeD ponglu' paq vIlaDtaH. seems like English grammar; notice that you're using
paq as the subject of
pong, but at the same time you're using -
lu', suggesting that the subject is unknown or unspecified.
Also, I'm not sure if the subject of
pong should be the name; the translation given in TKD is "name, call", suggesting that the object should be that which is called something.
A more "Klingon-like" construction, which unfortunately doesn't match the gloss all that well, is
paqvamvaD tlhIngan porghQeD ponglu'. - One calls "Klingon Biology" for this book.
Another one would be
tlhIngan porghQeD pong paq. {The book is named "Klingon Biology".}, but again, that doesn't really match the gloss.
Then there's
paq ponglu'. jatlhlu', tlhIngan porghQeD. {One calls this book. One says, "Klingon Biology".}, but that's a bit encumbering.
I must suggest suggest
paqvam vIlaDtaH. tlhIngan porghQeD 'oH pongDaj'e'. {I'm reading this book. Its name is Klingon Biology.}
This is similar to the canonical sentence
'u' 'oH ghe'naQ pong. {'u' {the Universe} is the opera's name}, except with an added -
'e' (which many Klingonists feel should be there).
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