tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 23 11:53:33 1998
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Re: DS9 Finale Kl;ingon
- From: Steven Boozer <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: DS9 Finale Kl;ingon
- Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 13:52:54 -0500 (CDT)
: Voragh wrote:
: >Last night I taped the rerun and transcribed the closed captions.
: >These are:
: > NEH TAH KRONOS.
: > HEGH BAT'LHQU HOCH NEJ MAH.
: > NEH TAH KRONOS.
: > YAY JE BAT'LH MANOB HEGH.
:
: Just squinching up my eyes and taking a sort of impressionistic stab
: at it, I come up with
: Kronos alone endures
: We all seek honorable death
: Kronos alone endures
: Death gives us honor and victory
: (I'm assuming that they got the O-V-S order basically right, that they are
: understanding {neH} wrongly to mean "only, solely" and not just "merely")
: So, re-translated (with no attempt at rhyme or meter):
: taHbej Qo'noS
: batlh maHegh wIneH
: taHbej Qo'noS
: yay batlh je nunob Hegh
:
: -- ter'eS
I like the image: whereas individual Klingon warriors may die (preferably
honorably), "Only Kronos survives". But why did you omit {neH}? After a
noun it *does* mean "only, solely":
"One word fits somewhat awkwardly into this category: {neH} 'only,
merely, just.'
Unlike the other adverbials, it follows the verb which it modifies. The
semantic
effect is one of trivializing the action ... Also unlike the other
adverbials,
{neH} can follow a noun. In such cases, it means 'only, alone'. {yaS
neH} 'only
the officer, the officer alone'. {jonta' neH} 'only the engine'." (TKD
56f)
BTW, I think it sounds more solemn and more of a timeless truth to drop
{-bej}: {taH Qo'noS neH}, particularly as a refrain in a death chant - if
that's what it is.
Voragh