tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 05 07:04:41 1996
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Word Borrowing in Klingon
- From: Nick Nicholas <[email protected]>
- Subject: Word Borrowing in Klingon
- Date: Mon, 05 Aug 1996 21:23:25 +0000
- Organization: University of Melbourne,Dept. of Linguistics & Applied Linguistics
In Digest 603, Anthony Appleyard asked:
>In the two big English to Klingon translation projects that I have heard of
>(Hamlet, and parts of the Bible), how often were the translators stuck for a
>translation of a word and had to resort to inserting the English word in
><angle brackets> or however they represented it?
In _Hamlet_, never --- but that was largely because we deliberately gave
_Hamlet_ a Klingon setting. (In _Much Ado_, I had to do so once, for 'picture';
I use *Hologhram* --- which I think is a plausible loan.) In _The Gospel
according to Mark_, rather more often, because I did not avail myself of the
option of a Klingon setting. Loanwords include 'camel', 'locust', 'honey,
'grape' (for *'grape' HIq*, 'wine'), and so on.
Incidentally, I do not think any of this is a legitimate argument for more
Klingon words. We need a Klingon for 'picture', perhaps (then again, I did make
do with things like rurwI' in _Hamlet_.) We don't need a Klingon for 'grape'.
--
NON ME TENENT VINCVLA NON ME TENET CLAVIS STETIT PVELLA RVFA TVNICA SIQVIS
Nick Nicholas http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~nsn Linguistics
QVAERO MEI SIMILES ET ADIVNGOR PRAVIS EAM TETIGIT TVNICA CREPVIT EIA
[email protected] University of Melbourne
ARCHIPOETAE CONFESSIO E CARMINIBVS BVRANIS