tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 18 06:25:21 2006

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Re: KLBC: "in life"

Terrence Donnelly ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Hi, qa'pIn qI'meQ, I'm the Beginner's Grammarian,
etc.,
etc. (since you use KLBC, I assume you know the rest!)


--- qa'pIn qI'meQ <[email protected]> wrote:

> I've come across the very deeply funny saying "the
> best things in life
> aren't things", and I would like to translate it to
> tlhIngan Hol.
> I've come up with
> 
> Dochmey yInDaq QaQ'a', Dochmeybe' 'e'

Starting at the beginning, phrases that use noun
suffixes like {-Daq} must be considered as adverbial
units, which come at the start of the sentence. So
{Dochmey yInDaq} is a single phrase, consisting of
a Noun-Noun+Suffix grouping.  The Noun-Noun phrase
{Dochmey yIn} means "the life of things" (the first
noun in these pairs specifies a particular example
of the second noun: "of all types of life, the type
referring to things"), adding the suffix makes it 
"in the life of things". The suffix {-Daq} seems to
be reserved for indicating location, so this would
mean literally "WITHIN the life...", and wouldn't 
refer metaphorically to one's life experience.

The verb {QaQ'a'} first of all can't take the suffix
{-'a'}, which I gather you intend to mean a bigger
or more significant version of "good", because it
is a noun suffix (in the meaning of augmentation),
and so can't be used on a verb.  Also, {QaQ} has no
subject: the {Dochmey yInDaq} phrase can't be the
subject of {QaQ} since it has a noun suffix and
comes before the verb. (True, {-'a'} is also a
verb suffix, but in this case marks a question, which
I don't think you were intending.)

In the rest of the sentence, {Dochmey} can't take
the suffix {-be'}, which is reserved for verbs,
and I don't know what function the final {'e'} is
performing. 

Your sentence therefore reads approximately "within
the life of things, are non-things good?"

Here's how I would translate that phrase, and why:

{yIn'e' Dochmey nIv bIHbe' Dochmey'e'}

{yIn'e'}: {yIn} 'life' + {-'e'} 'as for (topical
suffix)': "as for life, so far as life is concerned".
This is an adverbial comment, more or less
independent of the rest of the sentence.

{Dochmey nIv} : "superior things" - Klingon doesn't
have comparative or superlative adjective forms, but
other words carry the same force. Compare the canon
phrase about revenge, where "the best revenge" is
translated {bortaS nIvqu'}.

{bIHbe'} : {bIH} 'they (inanimate objects' + {-be'}
verbal negative: "they are not". This sentence is
an example of an equational sentence, where the two
sides of the sentence are identified with each other.
The independent pronouns serve like a form of "to be"
(technically, serve as the copula) in these types of
 sentences, and can take verb suffixes in this case,
 here the negative suffix.

{Dochmey'e'}: 'things'.  The suffix {-'e'} is used
automatically to mark the subject of an equational
sentence.  This is the same suffix as on {yIn},
but in the first case, is marking an adverbial
comment ('as for life') and here is just marking
the subject.

This could just as easily be {Dochmey bIHbe' Dochmey
nIv'e'}, since the essence of an equational sentence
is that the two equated terms are functionally
identical, but I thought that putting the simple
'things' after the copular {bIHbe'} better matched
the "surprise" of "aren't things" in the original.

Hope this helps.  Sorry to be so critical of your
attempt; anyone who tries to communicate in 
Klingon gets my admiration, so please don't stop!
Let me know if you have any questions.

-- ter'eS BG

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