tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 14 01:00:27 2004
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Weird grammar in CK (was Re: Klingon WOTD: nobHa' (v))
- From: "QeS lagh" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Weird grammar in CK (was Re: Klingon WOTD: nobHa' (v))
- Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 17:59:47 +1000
- Bcc:
ghItlhpu' voragh:
>qIp'egh nachDu'chaj tlhIngan SuvwI'pu'
> Klingon warriors are butting heads. CK
>"This sentence really doesn't make much sense to me. I think it's supposed
>to be {qIp'egh tlhIngan SuvwI'pu' nachDu'}. However, perhaps Okrand has
>some weird sort of grammar in mind..." (SuStel)
pab taQ 'oHbej. nuq DaHar SoH, SuStel? mu'tlheghvam vIyajlaHchu'be'. qech
'oSbogh vIyaj 'e' vIHar, 'ach pab vIpojlaHbe'. {qIpchuq} vIpIH; {qIp'egh}
vIpIHbe'. vanglaw'mo' vangwI' law' DuH mu'tlheghvam. 'ach wa' qech 'oS
{-chuq}; qech pIm 'oS {-'egh}. {maqIp'egh} {maqIpchuq} pImchu' net Sov.
Indeed. SuStel, since you were the one who wrote this comment, what do you
make of this sentence? I can't make any sense of it as it stands: for a
start, I would have expected {qIpchuq}. With a plural subject, anything's
possible, I guess. But to me plural subject + {-'egh} signifies that a whole
bunch of things are doing something to themselves. For instance {maqIp'egh}
"we hit ourselves" (masochists, maybe) is different to {maqIpchuq} "we hit
each other".
mu'tlheghvam vIlaDtaHvIS, yabwIjvaD taQqu'choH. {tuj poH ram wanI' najlu'}
vImughtaHvIS mu'tlhegh mIwvam vIlo'laH. Qapchu' <iambic pentameter>
lo'lu'taHvIS.
The more I look at this, the weirder it seems, and to be honest, a construct
like this could have come in useful a couple of times in translating
Midsummer Night's Dream. It works with iambic pentameter like a charm. Just
as an example:
{qIp'eghba' nachDu'chaj nov DaneH} (stress HLHLHLHLH)
You want the aliens to butt heads
as opposed to
{qIp'eghba' nov nachDu' DaneH} (stress HLHHLHLH)
mu'tlhegh chovnatlhvam vIchoHmeH {-pu'} vIlo'laH 'e' vISovchu'. 'ach qIt'a'
mu'tlheghvam? pagh taQmo' pab vIwoDnIS'a'?
I know that this particular example could be easily fixed with the addition
of {-pu'}. But is it possible to get away with this, or would it be wise to
just leave it alone like the headless relatives? :D
Savan.
QeS lagh
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