tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 07 23:34:47 2002
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Re: Translating into Klingon
ja' qonwI':
>In that case, does anyone have any tips for *writing* stories in Klingon? :)
ram Hol. Doch DaSovbogh yIqon. The advice is the same in any language:
write what you know.
>I do have one question, though: When translating fiction into Klingon, how
>literally should you translate?
That depends on how literally what you're translating is intended to be
taken. Good writing is often full of idioms which don't really mean what
they say. Good translations recognize them and restate them more clearly
in the target language. Great translations often manage to restate them as
*idioms* in the target language.
I have read -- or tried to read -- bits of translated stories where English
idioms were translated directly into corresponding words in Klingon. The
result is practically unreadable until it's translated back into English.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh