tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 01 22:15:22 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Translation Help: Please!
On Mon, 1 May 1995, Karl Dyson wrote:
Some of the most difficult things to translate are song lyrics and
poetry; they often play fast and loose with the language and sometimes
the metaphors get lost in translation.
> -Man In The Box- Alice In Chains
>
> *I'm the man in the box*
> [ngaswI'Daq loD ghah jIH] - the man in the container, I am him???
You could say:
ngaSwI'Daq ghaHtaHbogh loDvam'e' jIH. (I am that man who is in the
container.); or
loDvam'e' ngaStaHbogh ngaSwI' jIH. (I am that man which the container
contains.)
> *buried in my shit*
> [wuvwI'pu'wIjDaq jIH] - I'm in my remains???
I am in my dependants? Also note that you are mixing your suffixes.
For beings which use language, you use {-pu'} & {-wI'}.
Body parts use {-Du'} & {-wIj}.
For other things, you use {-mey} & {-wIj}.
Unfortunately, I don't know the word for that. Maybe you could say:
veQwIjDaq vImollu'pu'. (I have been buried in my garbage.)
> *won't you come and save me, save me*
> [chotoDqanq'a'] - I've been lazy here.. are you willing to save me???
Not bad. Perhaps you could say:
chotoDmeH bIruchQo''a'? (You won't go ahead and save me?)
(Literally: In order for you to save me, you won't go ahead?); or
chotoDmeH bIruchqangbe''a'? (Are you not willing to go ahead and save me?)
> ============================================================================
>
> -Flash- Queen (I hate this but it seemed easy at first!)
>
> *saviour of the universe*
> ['u'toDwI'] - saviour of the universe???
You don't really need a compound noun here, you can simply say:
'u' toDwI'.
> *he saved everyone of us*
> [Hoch nutoDta'] - everyone he saved us intentionally???
maj.
> *he's a miracle*
> [le'bej ghah] - he certainly is exceptional
maj.
> *king of the impossible*
> [DuHbe' che'wI'] - ruler of notpossible???
This means, "The ruler is not possible."
Perhaps you can say:
Qu' Doj ta'laH. (He can accomplish impressive tasks.)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Actualy, while I'm on.. I came up with
> nachlIj teqeghbe'jaj - may your head not remove itself
> but how do I add "from your body" to make "may your head not remove itself
> from your body"?
Since "your head" is the subject, it comes after the verb. {egh} on p.
35 is a typo. The text and the charts indicate it should be {'egh}.
I would also put {-be'} after {teq}.
"From your body" would simply be {porghlIjvo'} and it goes at the
beginning of the sentence.
porghlIjvo' teqbe''eghjaj nachlIj.
--yoDtargh