tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Oct 16 08:47:02 1998
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Re: Honor to you and your house!
>
> I'm having trouble translating the phrase "honor to you and your house".
> I think we need to use the verb here, with an indefinite subject suffix
-lu'.
> But how does that work with two objects? I'm asking this here because maybe
> somebody already has translated that phrase
>
> Quvar muHwI'
With two objects - particularly if different prefixes are required or if there
are attached suffixes such as {-vaD} - Klingon tends to repeat the verb in a
second clause or follow-up sentence. Here's an example from the restaurant
scene in CK:
SoHvaD 'uQ wej vIqem. Dargh vIqem je.
I'll bring you dinner number three. I'll bring tea also.
Note that the waitress omitted {SoHvaD} the second time since it's understood.
(Since she's talking to her customer, who else was she going to bring it to?)
Grammatically, she could have said:
SoHvaD 'uQ wej Dargh je vIqem.
I'll bring you dinner number three and tea.
This would have been a bit confusing, so Okrand split it into two sentences as
a matter of (colloquial?) style.
Now, depending on what you really mean by "honor to you and your House", you
could say simply:
SoHvaD batlh tuqvaD batlh je
SoHvaD quv tuqvaD quv je
"honor to you and honor to your House"
which is a just a noun phrase. Note that like the English, this is not a
complete sentence. (We don't need to discuss the difference between the two
nouns for "honor" again here.) As a complete, if clumsy, sentence you might
say:
SoHvaD quv vInob 'ej tuqvaD quv vInob.
"I give honor to you and (I give honor) to your House."
or the like, *IF* there is an idiom to "give honor" in Klingon. So far, we
know of {quv tIch} "insult (someone's) honor" (PK & TKW), {quv chav} "achieve
honor" (TKW), {quv Hutlh} "have no honor, lack honor" (TKW). Considering the
importance of honor in Klingon society, I'm sure there are many, many more
such
idioms. Not to mention those with {batlh}:
batlh qelDI' tlhIngan, lumbe'
A Klingon does not postpone a matter of honor. TKW
More simply, just use the verb {quvmoH}, "honor (someone)":
SoSwI' vavwI' je quvmoHjaj paqvam
[Okrand's dedication in KGT]
Hochlogh no' yIquvmoH
All times honor your ancestors (sic) KGT
reH no' yIquvmoH
Always honor your ancestors. KGT
This gives us:
qaquvmoH 'ej tuqlIj vIquvmoH.
"I honor you and I honor your House."
Fortunately, Okrand has translated a nearly identical phrase from the Order of
the Bat'leth induction at Ty'Gokor (DS9 "Apocalypse Rising") in his "Klingon
for the Galactic Traveller" (ca. p. 182 I think):
pInaDqu' tuqlIj wInaDqu' je
Glory to you and your house
("We praise you highly; we also praise your house highly")
Note that Okrand renders "glory" (or "glorify") as "praise highly". Using
this
as a guide, we finally wind up with:
qaquvmoH tuqlIj vIquvmoH je.
Personally, I think {quvmoHqu'} would be a bit much. No doubt you will hear
other suggestions. How did you want to translate using {-lu'}?
_____________________________________________________________________
Voragh
"Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est."
Horace (Ars Poetica)