tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 15 10:01:04 1998
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Re: Appositive
- From: Steven Boozer <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Appositive
- Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 11:58:39 -0500 (CDT)
: How does one express appositives in tlhIngan Hol? For example,
: "Torros, poet warrior, was master of both verse and blade." or
: "Mogh, the captain, died honorably at the helm."
:
: ~ Thornton
In general, just like English: Simply state the nouns or noun phrases in
sequence. We have one clear example of apposition in SkyBox card S26:
DuraS tuq tlhIngan yejquv patlh luDub 'e' reH lunIDtaH DuraS be'nI'pu'
lurSa' be'etor je.
The sisters of the House of Duras, Lursa and B'Etor, are constantly
seeking a higher standing for the House of Duras within the Klingon
High Council.
Note the second clause:
... 'e' reH lunIDtaH DuraS be'nI'pu' lurSa' be'etor je.
The sisters of the House of Duras, Lursa and B'Etor, are constantly
seeking [it] ...
Also notice that Okrand didn't put a comma after {DuraS be'nI'pu'}, to set
off the appositive from its referent. (Personally, I would have.) This may
be because in the Klingon, the subject comes at the end of the sentence,
whereas in the English, the appositive comes intrusively right in the
middle, as a sort of parenthetical statement.
Other appositive-like examples from canon are:
romuluSngan Sambogh 'ej HoHbogh nejwI'
Romulan hunter-killer probe (KCD)
yoq yIn yuQ 'oH Qo'noS'e'. yInSIp voQSIp je ngaS muDDaj.
Qo'noS is a class-M planet with an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. S27
That being said, I would translate your first example:
bom 'etlh je lo'taHvIS po'chu' *toroS bomwI' SuvwI' je.
Torros, poet warrior, was skilled in using (both) song and blade.
You might prefer {bom qonwI'} or just {qonwI'} instead. We know that
Klingon have poets, we're just not sure what they call them or if they
distinguish them from those who sing. Many cultures don't make this
distinction: verse is verse whether spoken, declaimed, recited, chanted or sung.
Your second example is a bit more problematic. In Klingon, ranks and titles
follow the name and are already in apposition: {mogh HoD} "Captain Mogh".
To reverse this, you could say {HoD mogh} "Mogh, the captain" or, as a
Klingon would understand it: "the captain, Mogh". I can't remember any
canonical examples of this method, however. So, I would translate it:
DeghDaq batlh Hegh HoD mogh.
The captain, Mogh, died honorably at the helm.
Well, that's my cha' DarSeq. I don't doubt that you'll soon hear others'
opinions on this.
--
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)