tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 17 03:21:17 1996

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: mu'tlheghmey javDIch vImugh



jatlh SuStel:
>December 16, 1996 6:38 PM, jatlh HurghwI':
>
>> jIQub, vaj jIH
>> "I think, therefore I am."
>> Are you allowed to use a pronoun-as-verb intransitively like this?
>[...]
>If you say this again, you are the Fek'lhr incarnate!

Was the debate over this phrase or the unusual verb?

>> BIHe'DI' targh vIqaw
>> "You smell like a targ."
>
>Considering the Klingon sense of smell and the fact that some sayings relate 
>to this (see TKW pp. 157, 159), I would not be surprised to see someone 
>"remembering" a targ when he smells you.  However, if I hadn't read TKW, I 
>would have said

Yes, that's partially where I got the idea.

>bIHe'So'!  targh Darur.  noSvagh yIlo'!
>
>The idea is plain that you are not referring to how I look like a targ, but 
>rather how I smell like one.

I really wanted to use "remind," as in "When you emit odor, I am reminded of
a targ." The only problem was I wasn't sure how to use {qaw'moH}.

>> An alternative re-wording - SoH He'So' law' targh He'So' puS
>> Is there a word for "scent?" In this sentence, especially, it is hard to get
>> around.
>
>No, there's no word for "scent."  If you want to get across the idea that I 
>smell *worse* than a targ, you can say
>
>He' targh.  bIHe'So'!

I like this.

>> SoH mIgh law' Hoch vIQubbogh puS
>> "You are the most evil person I know"
>> or perhaps - SoH mIgh law' Hoch SoH rurbe'bogh nuv vIQubbogh puS
>
>"You are more evil than a person whom I know who doesn't resemble each you."  

"You are more evil than _every_ person other than you which I think [oops, I
meant {Sov}]."
The {nuv} of {SoH rurbe'bogh nuv} is intended to take the {Hoch}. Does
{Hoch} always immediately precede the noun or does it behave like a verb, as
far as location?

>This doesn't work.  Let's break this down.
>
>SoH mIgh law' Hoch mIgh puS.
>You are more evil than everyone.
>Does this not convey your idea?  Is the "of the people whom I know" concept 
>really important?
Yes, that was the point of my translation.

>SoH mIgh law' Hoch vISovbogh mIgh puS.
>You are more evil than everyone I know.

oops, I forgot that second "mIgh" and the "Sov."
The problem with this is that it implies that either I don't know you, or
you are more evil than yourself. It couldn't be the former because I
obviously know you well enough to say that you're evil. I wasn't sure if a
Klingon would care about this level of detail. SoH mIgh law' Hoch SoH
rurbe'bogh nuv vISovbogh mIgh puS.

-HurghwI'
Hovjaj 96962.2



Back to archive top level