tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri May 15 23:16:40 1998
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Re: KLBC: U2 Lyrics
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: U2 Lyrics
- Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 23:13:20 -0700
At 15:23 98-05-14 -0700, Matt wrote:
}*KLBC* chel 'e' jIqawpu'.
}I have remembered to include 'KLBC' in the subject!
I had to read your translation before I knew what you were doing here.
Every Klingon verb has a prefix, either the null prefix for a third person
subject, or one of the other prefixes from the table on page 33. If you
write or say a verb, you must know its subject and object.
Also there is a rule, see section 6.2.5, forbidding type-7 suffixes on the
verb whose subject is {'e'}.
Your sentence should be, literally translated,
"I have added KLBC I remember that."
KLBC vIchelta' 'e' vIqaw.
Notice the verb prefixes both indicate 1st person subject, third person
object, and the type-7 suffix is moved to the first verb.
}HuD jen law' Hoch jan puS vItoSpu'.
}I have climbed the highest mountain.
The phrase {HuD jen law' Hoch jan puS} is a sentence in itself "The mountain
is highest of all." It doesn't function as a noun phrase, so can't form the
object of {toS}.
}yotlhmeyDaq vIqetpu'.
}I have run through the fields.
qay'be'.
}neH soH retlh jIHtaHmeH. (cha'logh)
}Only to be with you
In Klingon the placement of {neH} is very important. If it follows a noun
it means "only, alone." If it follows a verb it means "only as in merely."
The clause in {-meH} is always placed before the noun or verb whose purpose
it describes. So translating this song in the same order it is written
leads you to construct an ungrammatical Klingon sentence.
The clause "merely for the purpose of being beside you" could be translated:
SoH retlhDaq jIHtaHmeH neH
{SoH retlh jIHtaHmeH} means "in order to be the area beside you"
You need the {-Daq} to show that it's a location.
}jIqetpu', pe'vIl jIqetpu'.
}I have run, I have crawled
} [ 'crawl' seems to me to be a rather deliberate action]
If you want to stress the deliberateness of these actions, use {-ta'}
instead of {-pu'}. {pe'vIl qet} is unrelated to {crawl} but for a
makeweight verb related to running about on someone's behalf, it works fine.
}veng veHpu'vam vItoSpu' (cha'logh)
}I have scaled these city walls (twice)
The plural suffix for non beings and non-body parts is done with {-mey}.
Not {-pu'}. Only use {-pu'} with beings capable of using language.
}vIneJbogh 'e' wej vItu'pu'. (cha'logh)
}But I still haven't found what I'm looking for. (twice).
{Sam} is better here than {tu'}. Compare their meanings.
{'e'} is used to make a sentence the object of another verb. A phrase in
{-bogh} is a noun phrase, not a sentence anymore, so the {'e'} is not used.
But the verb with {-bogh} on it has to have either an explicit subject or an
explicit object. Perhaps:
wej vay' vInejbogh vISamta'
"I haven't yet found something/someone I'm looking for."
}Am I trying to be too ambitious? Is it unwise to set my goals so high?
Translating a song is always tough. Fortunately you've chosen one that has
for the most point literally interpretable sentences not too convoluted by
poetic licence. You did fall into one trap that translating has, with the
word order and {-meH}.
One problem is that when you translate random thing, everything hits you at
once. That means more work for me, and I'm not sure that you can learn so
much at one time. With some translations, I might as well just say, "You
made mistakes, read TKD over."
Try translating these sentences. I've made them up to drill you on some of
things you've made errors on more than once.
I visit the Klingons.
I know that you visit the Klingons.
You ate the dishes. (the meals, not the plates)
I know that you ate the dishes.
His hands are on his head.
Qov [email protected]
Now on ICQ: 12235599