In honor of this occasion I will post how to say "Happy Birthday" in the Klingon language, tlhIngan Hol.
qoSlIj DatIvjaj!
May you enjoy your birthday!
Let's break that down and analyze the grammar and syntax.
The Klingon word for "birthday" is qoS. To convey the idea of "your birthday", we attach the Type 4 noun suffix for possession, -lIj your, which gives us qoSlIj your birthday. The -lIj suffix is used to convey the idea of possession of a thing or idea that is not a being capable of language.
The second word is DatIvjaj, may you enjoy him/her/it/them. The root word is the verb tIv enjoy, and we augment that root verb with the verb prefix Da- you <verb> him/her/it/them and the Type 9 verb suffix -jaj may. The Klingon Dictionary addendum (section 4.2.9) tells us the -jaj may suffix is used to express a desire or wish on the part of the speaker that something take place in the future.
DatIv means you enjoy him/her/it/them, and can be used in such phrases as yuch DatIv you enjoy chocolate -- adding the -jaj may suffix expresses a desire on the part of the speaker that the one being spoken to enjoys the chocolate: yuch DatIvjaj May you enjoy the chocolate.
Nightfly qoSlIj DatIvjaj!
Happy Birthday Nightfly!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment Form Message text