[tlhIngan Hol] Quvar, QISmaS cake Davutta''a'

[Felix Malmenbeck]

I also forego question marks and exclamation marks at times, sticking to just periods and commas. (Used to do it quite a lot, now less so)


It mirrors the writing system in pIqaD, which I consider to be a good thing. It's nice to have a one-to-one transliteration between the two (which is also part of the reason I prefer to transcribe words rather than writing them out in English).


That being said, TKD and other Okrandian sources use exclamation marks and question marks in romanized, so it makes sense that we also do. After all, romanized tlhIngan Hol is still the most widely accepted version; pIqaD has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, but it is still not universally accepted.


http://klingonska.org/punct.html



//loghaD


________________________________
From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces at lists.kli.org> on behalf of mayqel qunenoS <mihkoun at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2016 17:21
To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org
Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Quvar, QISmaS cake Davutta''a'

however, there is a major difference between the {-'a'} and punctuation in general.

if you are reading a sentence which contains a verb bearing the {-'a'}, or a sentence starting with any question word, there is no way you can't realize instantly that it is a question.

but if you are trying to read a passage with no commas and periods, then good luck, especially in klingon.

one of the reasons I refuse to read paq'batlh is exactly this lack of punctuation. the problem isn't the lack of question marks; its having to be a psychic in order to understand where everything starts and stops.

whenever voragh quotes the paq'batlh, and I am trying to read just a few sentences, I feel like smashing my phone against the wall.

I can't help but hear myself saying "how the f*** am I supposed to understand this" ?

qunnoH jan puqloD
ghoghwIj HablI'vo' vIngeHta'

On 31 Dec 2016 5:00 pm, "SuStel" <sustel at trimboli.name<mailto:sustel at trimboli.name>> wrote:
On 12/31/2016 9:30 AM, Lieven wrote:
Am 31.12.2016 um 15:17 schrieb mayqel qunenoS:
Some time ago I decided to stop using question marks, because I decided
that they are unnecessary.

Why did you decide that. Don't you think it looks strange. Would it look strange in English.

On the other hand, I believe that other punctuation marks are definitely
necessary.

Not really
It's the same in English
When you write one line per phrase it's clear the sentence is over
If you have longer phrases that are longer than one line and may jump into the following line you can just leave a space to mark a ne phrase like I am doing now

This is the next phrase

So saying that punctuation is necessary contradicts your saying that the qustion mark is not :-)


Well, technically, line endings are also punctuation. But capitalization, alternate typefaces, horizontal and vertical spacing, and marks are all used to improve the readability of writing, refined* over thousands of years. Earlier writing often eschewed punctuation, showing it's not strictly necessary. But it helps a lot. Messing around with it is a disservice to your readers.

* But the modern ignorance of the difference between text figures and lining figures is nothing short of a crime!

--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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