tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 19 12:58:51 1996

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Re: PK opening scene question

ghItlh charghwI':
                              >>>>>>

On Tue, 13 Aug 1996 03:47:56 -0700 "Mark J. Reed" 
<[email protected]> wrote:

> \ >  tera'ngan:<drawing phaser>  Dochvetlh yItlhap!
> \ Yes, this line is pretty bad.  It obviously should be {vItlhap}, [...]
> No, I don't see that it should be {vI-}.  I interpret it as "Take that!",
> a phrase often uttered by English speakers when they are about to
deliver
> some punishment to someone - although I'm surprised that he bothered,
> in the heat of the moment, to translate it. :)

[...] I didn't imagine the human drawing a weapon. He sounds 
entirely too apologetic. I think he was dancing, then picking 
something up and offering to buy it in order to avoid being shot, 
but he was just too late and too whimpy. 

I thought it was {Dochvam vItlhap!}

                              <<<<<<

vIjang [marqem]:

I've just listened to that passage on the Klingon Language Lab 
disc of "ST:K" (which can be played as an audio CD-ROM, with an 
abbreviated [ja'lu'] version of PK). Through stereo headphones it 
becomes much clearer, and I have to agree with marqoS. The Terran 
is on the left and the Klingon is on the right. The first weapon 
noise is on the right, after K. has threatened T. There are three 
weapon sounds on the right, each immediately followed by a 
detonation on the left: I infer that K is shooting near T, as a 
warning. After that: 

             LEFT                           RIGHT

    T:  <uh>, yIjotchoH
                                    K:  [weapon noise]
        [detonation]

    T:  <uh>,
        [clicking noise: drawing, or
         releasing safety?]
    T:  Dochvetlh... yItlhap!
        [weapon #2]
                                        [detonation]
        [weapon #2]
                                        [detonation]
        [weapon #2]
                                        [detonation]

                                        [weapon #1]
        [detonation]
    T:  [long scream Dopplering away]
        [breaking and shattering noises]

The weapon noises on the two sides are quite distinct and 
different.

So, the Terran understands only that he's been fired upon, with 
(as he sees it) no justification. He clears his weapon for action,
unidiomatically answers "Take that!", and shoots three times 
(apparently three misses), and falls to the Klingon's first 
non-warning shot.

     marqem, tlhIngan veQbeq la'Hom -- Heghbej ghIHmoHwI'pu'! 
Subcmdr. Markemm, Klingon Sanitation Corps -- Death to Litterbugs!
**              Mark A. Mandel : [email protected]             **
    Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200 
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02160, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com/
=> KLINGON PAGE! http://www.dragonsys.com/klingon/klingon.html <=

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