tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 02 12:43:19 1998

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Re: KLBC: Trying to translate qIDHom



At 10:25 97-12-31 -0800, tlhIbwI' wrote:

}Can I have a go at translating that as I'm a beginner?  Well, I'm doing
}it anyway.  I'll ROT13 it so others don't have to read it.  I'll just
}say now I'm not sure about the translation of *SuvwI' qiv rap mup DaS*
}because I don't know how *rap* is used like this.

My mailer doesn't do rot13 and I'm too lazy to write a program to do it.
Here's my translation. L: is literal translation.  S: is a smoother version.
Ask me about any significant deviations from what you got.  Oh, it could
also be translated all into present tense, as "While a warrior is in te
First City a person approaches ..."  

>veng wa'DIchDaq ghaHtaHvIS SuvwI''e', ghoS nuv. nuv qab So'lu'.

L: While a warrior -yes a warrior- was in the First City, a person
approached. The person's face was hidden.

The {-'e'} on SuvwI' is what caused me to add the "-yes a warrior-" to the
translation.  When {-'e'} is not grammatically required, it adds that type
of emphasis to the noun.

>jatlh SuvwI': nuqneH

L: The warrior said "Whatdyawant?"
S: The warrior greeted him.

>pagh jatlh nuv. DaS teq nuv 'ej SuvwI' chuH. SuvwI' qIv mup DaS.

L: The person said nothing.  The person took off a boot and threw it at the
warrior.  The boot struck the warrior's knee.
S: The person said nothing.  He took off a boot and threw it at the warrior,
striking his knee.

(the word order and longer sentences of English allowed some consolidation here)

>jatlh SuvwI': chonuQ. naDevvo' yIghoS.

L: The warrior said "You annoy me.  Go away."

>pagh jatlh nuv. latlh DaS teq nuv 'ej SuvwI' chuH. SuvwI' qIv rap mup DaS.

L: The person said nothing.  The person took off the other boot and threw it
at the warrior.  The boot struck the warrior's same knee.

>QeH SuvwI', 'ej jatlh: QI'yaH! tera'ngan SoHchugh, yIjang, tlhIngan
>SoHchugh, yIvang!

L: The warrior was angry, and he said <badword>!  If you are a Terran,
answer, if you are a Klingon, act!

Better to have said {QeHchoH} - the warrior BECAME angry.

>jatlh nuv: tera'ngan jIHbe'. tlhIngan jIHbe'.

L: The person said, "I am not a Terran.  I am not a Klingon."
S: The person said he was not a Terran nor a Klingon.

>ghel SuvwI': vaj SoH 'Iv?

L: The warrior asked, "So who are you?"

I think I might have said {nuq SoH jay'} "What the hell are you?"  but it's
not my joke.

>jatlh nuv: DaSwIj vIjaDtaHvIS, jIqar, qar'a'? vaj qarDaSngan jIH.

L: The person said, "When I'm throwing my boots around I am accurate, right?
Thus I am a Cardassian."

Perhaps the {ghobe' SuD} joke was once a rich pun but as the language
changed and the joke retained its traditional form the pun was lost, leaving
only the unquestioned tradition that the joke is funny.

Qov     [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian                 



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