tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 08 01:40:25 1998
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Re: DIS chu' Quch
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: DIS chu' Quch
- Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 23:36:39 -0500
-----Original Message-----
From: William H. Martin <[email protected]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, January 07, 1998 10:21 PM
Subject: Re: DIS chu' Quch
>On Tue, 6 Jan 1998 13:35:52 -0800 (PST) David Trimboli
><[email protected]> wrote:
>> >It doesn't quite make sense to me. I read it as "The year which is
>> >new and may you enjoy which is happy."
>>
>> No, he's absolutely correct. Consider {SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh} "The
tea
>> that is {SuD} and light" (KGT p.82).
>
>He is absolutely correct? Does he really mean, "May you enjoy
>the year which is happy and new!"? Is the year itself actually
>intended to be happy? Can a year BE happy? Is it sentient?
I addressed this question, either elsewhere in the message you replied to or
another one in the same thread. We don't know if a year can "be happy" in
Klingon. I said this, and then went on to look at the grammar.
And we just don't know. KGT p. 105 has a pretty clear implication that
{pa'vamDaq jIbIr} means that the speaker is uncomfortable with the
temperature being as low as it is. But if you touch the speaker, you'll
find that he is at his normal body temperature, and not suffering from
hypothermia! The paragraph is aimed at showing that this is NOT an
idiomatic expression in Klingon. So what exactly is the subject of {bIr}?
The person or the environment?
Similarly, we don't KNOW that {Quch} can't be stretched in a like manner.
I'm with you in thinking that it probably doesn't, but I'm not saying it
CANNOT, and so I voiced my opinion on the subject and then let it rest, to
get on with the grammar.
>I think we need to say what we mean instead of just translating
>words. Yes, we say, "Happy New Year!", but what we mean is, "May
>you be happy in this New Year!" I don't care if the grammar is
>correct. The message is gibberish.
And since others were giving all sorts of alternatives simultaneously to my
message, and since I've been telling people how to translate "Happy New
Year" for several years now, I just left it to others to give their
alternatives. I didn't feel like repeating them. I was not accepting the
message, just the grammar.
SuStel
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