tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Apr 13 18:48:54 1997

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RE: KLBC: Some Sayings

On Saturday, April 12, 1997 11:54 PM, [email protected] on behalf of Jim 
LeMaster wrote:

> jatlh SuStel:

I didn't say the following text.  You just said "SuStel said:"  If you want to 
get my attention, why not say, {SuStel, yIqIm!}

> I am trying my hand at my first tlhIngan Hol translations.
> I selected a few sayings that I use quite often.
> 
> In war, there are dirty fighters and losers.
> noH HIghwI'pu' je lujwI'pu' pa'.

To say "in war," you cannot just say "war."  You also cannot use {-Daq} here I 
think, since fighting a war is not a physical location.  What you *can* do is 
rephrase this to something Klingon can handle.  Something like {ghoblu'taHvIS} 
"while one makes war."  You could also use the verb {Qoj} instead of {ghob}.  
({ghob} is a noun "ethics" and a verb "make war" from TKW.)

You've got the right words for "dirty fighters" and "losers."  Good.  However, 
whenever you use a noun conjunction ({je}, {joq}, {ghap}), the conjunction 
must always go at the end of the noun phrase.  So, "dirty fighters and losers" 
comes out as {HIghwI'pu' lujwI'pu' je}.

When you want to say "there is" or "there are," you don't use {pa'}.  That 
means "thereabouts," which is a physical location.  Also, you'd have to put it 
at the beginning of the sentence, in place of a noun with a Type 5 suffix.  
However, there is a word which does exactly what you're trying to do: 
{tu'lu'}.  This is {tu'} "find, discover, observe" with the suffix {-lu'} 
(indefinite subject) added on.  Just stick it after whatever it is that one 
finds.

ghoblu'taHvIS HIghwI'pu' lujwI'pu' je tu'lu'.

> Works for me!
> myQap!

Huh?  I suppose that "y" was supposed to be a "u".  However, *{muQap} means 
"if functions me."  This is pretty nonsensical.

What exactly does "Works for me!" mean?  As I see it, this is an expression 
indicating that you are satisfied with whatever course of action someone else 
has just suggested.  There are two words that could fill this role in Klingon: 
{lu'} "okay, let's do it," or {maj}, an expression of satisfaction.

You shouldn't use this, but I think I should point it out: a more literal and 
drawn out version of this (and there are several) might be {nabvam vIlaj} "I 
accept this plan."

> A man should know his limitations.
> vehmeyDoj Sov loD.

Watch your spelling!  Let's see, you meant {veHmeyDaj}.  Hmmm . . . I wonder 
if a person can have {veH} "boundaries"?  For a moment, let's assume that he 
can.

Is there any reason that only men should know their limitations?  In English, 
the male gender is often grammatically neutered, but in Klingon we don't have 
this problem.  I suggest that you either choose a gender-independent term, 
like {ghot}, or use the indefinite subject again ({-lu'}).

{veHmeyDaj Sov ghot}  This so far is just "A person knows his/her boundaries." 
 Well, that's not necessarily true.  We're trying to say they *need* to know 
them.  That's the suffix {-nIS}.

veHmeyDaj SovnIS ghot
A person needs to know his/her boundaries.

I'm not thrilled with {veH} here, though.  It sounds like their personal-space 
bubble or something.  Let's see, there's the word {vuS} "limit" . . .

ghot vuSbogh Dochmey'e' SovnIS ghaH.
A person needs to know the things which limit him.

A bit tougher, but I think a little better.  Depending on your context, you 
could substitute other words in for {Doch}, like {ghu'} or {wanI'}.

> (Popeye's philosophy) Iam what I am.
> nuq jIratlh jIratlh.  (I remain what I remain.)

Ack!  I don't think Klingons would have much use for tautologies (did I spell 
that right?).

> How did I do so far?

majQa'!

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97283.2

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