Let's get this party started...
Saul Epstein 
Fri, 8 May 1998 10:03:54 -0500

Greetings all. I just got a message from John Cook of Sev Trek
informing me that he's putting out a book of his strips in the near
future. He'd very much like to include a few Vulcan translations in
it, which means we need to get busy.

So, taking Sev Trek's very first strip as an easily chosen starting
point, here's a tentative structural translation:

#1
Gaudy: Is something bothering you, Barf?
       qa an'[bo]xe[ther]       s'hi           lahe,    Barfa?
       ?  it-bother-PROGRESSIVE you-ACCUSATIVE PRESENT, Barf-VOCATIVE

Barf:  I am untroubled. Why do you ask?
       nirc th'[trou]tsu[ble]. s'[a]tsu[sk]    qantca        lehe?
       not  I-trouble-PERFECT. you-ask-PERFECT what-ABLATIVE PAST1

Gaudy: You have a furroughed brow.
       s'[forehead][wrinkled]

Barf:  All Klingoffs have those, you fool!
       th'klingofje,       s'[fool]a!
       I-Klingof-HABITUAL, you-fool-VOCATIVE

(To lend this a bit more of a Vulcan flavor (?), I've changed the last
line to mean something more like "I am a Klingon" which entails the
bumpy forehead and is therefore logically sufficient explanation.)

So, words we need, as far as I can tell:

     bother/trouble
     ask
     fool

Note to Rob: I've used your habitual suffix in the last line, which is
probably inexact. What I'm looking for is a periodic contour for
something that is what it is or does what it does continuously because
that's just the way it is. Also, I figure we can use some contour or
other to indicate the wrinkledness of the forehead. If that sounds
right, can you tell us which one and how to say it?

General Note re Rob's Particles: I realize that this may wind up being
the de facto establishment of some of these, but I don't see anything
else to do right now. I did make one change of <ex> to <xe> because I
anticipate it fitting into words better.

As a final note for now, I realize I'm being rather terse, dense,
technical, obscure, etc. I strongly encourage, I beg, anyone who would
like to be involved with this particular translation project, or with
current development as a whole, to bombard the list with questions
about anything that isn't clear, that doesn't make sense, that you
think is wrong or could be done differently. I don't expect people to
be familiar with the same terminology I am, I don't think my own
familiarity is perfect, and I certainly don't consider myself an
authority on Vulcan. If nothing else, arriving at answers will give us
a head start on the sort of textbook-style documents we'll eventually
need.

--
from Saul Epstein
locus*planetkc,com
http://www,jccc,net/~sepstein
"Surak ow'phaaper thes'hi thes'tca'; thes'phaadjar thes'hi
     suraketca'."
                                        -- K'dvarin Urswhl'at