tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 26 07:10:26 1996
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re KLBC: Comments (was: Commants) on my sentences
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: re KLBC: Comments (was: Commants) on my sentences
- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 10:10:15 -0500
ghunchu'wI' is correct when he writes
"The suffix {-neS} takes a bit of work to use correctly"
It is a confusing suffix, and it has claimed another victim. ghunchu'wI'
says:
>>>>>
I'd be delighted to comment on your sentences, Chris!
>It is an honor to have Klingon blood.
>tlhIngan 'Iw ghajneS
I read this as: "He is honored to have Klingon blood."
The suffix {-neS} takes a bit of work to use correctly, but I think your
usage here is perfectly fine.
[...]
The verb suffix
{-lu'} (TKD 4.2.5) says that the subject is indefinite; it's usually translated
using the impersonal "one". If we add it to your sentence, we get:
{tlhIngan 'Iw ghajlu'neS}
"One is honored to have Klingon blood."
A sentence using {-lu'} can often be translated using "passive voice."
This would give "it honors one to have Klingon blood," which isn't very
far at all from "it is an honor to have Klingon blood."
<<<<<
"-neS" seems different from all other suffixes in that no matter what the
subject (or object) of the verb, "-neS" expresses the speaker's respect
toward the addressee. TKD p. 43: "It is used to express extreme
politeness or deference. It is used only in addressing a superior,
someone of higher rank in the Klingon social, political, or military
hierarchy." [In fact, this is not that much different from the reference of
law' (as well as chu'/bej/ba', and also qoq/Hey/na'), which expresses
the speaker's evaluation of the word it is attached to, no matter who or
what the word refers to. <nIQochlaw''> "They seem to disagree with
you", "I think they disagree with you".] On the audiotape "Power Klingon"
there are several examples of "-neS"; in all of them it is translated by
"your honor" appended as a vocative [i.e., addressing the person being
spoken to] to the rest of the sentence.
Thus ghunchu'wI''s proposal
{tlhIngan 'Iw ghajlu'neS}
actually means something like
"Your honor, someone has Klingon blood."*
* Incidentally, "X blood" meaning "X ancestry" is an English idiom, and
may also occur in other Terran languages, but I wouldn't want to
translate it directly into Klingon. I read the sentence above as actually
meaning
"Your honor, someone has a Klingon's blood."
If the context is not medical, it would seem to call for revenge! For the
meaning being sought, I suggest
tlhIngan no'
Since "the lack of a specific suffix for plural does not always indicate
that the noun is singular" (TKD pp. 21-22), this can mean either "a Klingon
ancestor" or "Klingon ancestors", and could just as well be rendered as
"Klingon ancestry".
To get all the way back to what Chris was trying to say, "It is an honor to
have Klingon blood", I was going to suggest:
batlh tlhIngan no' ghajlu'
or
tlhIngan no'mo' quvlu'
This last try has the advantage of not using "have" of ancestors. What
uses do we have of "ghaj"? Can it apply to persons (children, spouses,
siblings, parents, ancestors, commanders, etc.)? Of course in English
we "have" money and parents with the same verb, but many languages
distinguish possession from relationship, including Klingon (HuchwIj but
no'wI').
Fortunately, "quv" means "be honored". Built into it is the idea that the
speaker doesn't know or doesn't care who is DOING the honoring. That
means that "-lu'" makes the HONOREE indefinite. "quvlu'" = "one is
honored". So, again,
tlhIngan no'mo' quvlu'
or perhaps more precisely*
tlhIngan no'Dajmo' quvlu'
or literally
One is honored because of his/her K. ancestry.
*Klingons may be wrong, but they are never vague! (Conversational
Klingon)
marqem, tlhIngan veQbeq la'Hom -- Heghbej ghIHmoHwI'pu'!
Subcommander Markemm,
Klingon Sanitation Corps -- Death to Litterbugs!
Mark A. Mandel
Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
320 Nevada St. : Newton, Mass. 02160, USA : [email protected]