tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 30 07:54:04 2006
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for 2006/10/24
>pm5 wrote:
> >DIlbot: {SoHmo' jIbelHa'pu'. HoSqu' yISIQ!} (2)
> >Dilbert: "You have failed me. Feel the power of the force!"
"Because of you I have been displeased." Using the perfective {-pu'}
implies that the act of being displeased {belHa'} is no longer true (i.e.
it's completed, over and done with). Don't over-think it; just say
{jIbelHa'} "I am displeased".
We also have {luj} "fail, lose (not win)" but there's no evidence that it's
transitive.
lujpu' jIH
I have failed. TKD
lujpu' jIH'e'
I, and only I, have failed. TKD
bIlujlaHbe'chugh bIQaplaHbe'
If you cannot fail, you cannot succeed.
("If you cannot lose, you cannot win"). TKW
wo' choqmeH may' DoHlu'chugh lujbe'lu'
"ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat" TKW
The slang expression is used in such constructions as {bIvonlu'pu'}
("You have failed completely"; literally, "You have been trapped").
In standard Klingon, the same idea may be expressed by saying {lujbej}
("certainly fail"), {lujchu'} ("fail perfectly"), or {lujqu'} ("really
fail"), all based on {luj} ("fail"). Note that {luj} is also used to
mean "lose" (as in "lose at a game"). To say "I lose" is {jIluj}; to
say "I lose in a big way" is {jIlujqu'} or {jIlujchu'}. (KGT 165-66)
If we can't say *{choluj} "you fail me" we *might* be able to say {jIHvaD
bIlujpu'} using {-vaD} to mark {jIH} "me" as the "beneficiary" of your
failing - but it still doesn't feel quite right.
De'vID:
>Is <HoS> a noun or verb here? If it's a noun, it can't take <-qu'>; and
>if it's a verb, it can't be the object of <SIQ>.
Easily fixed: Move {-qu'} to the verb: {HoS yISIQqu'!}. You can also
replace it with {-na'} "true, genuine": {HoSna' yISIQ!} (i.e. the Force -
with a capital /F/). So all together:
bIlujpu' vaj HoS yISIQqu'!
bIlujpu'mo' HoSna' yISIQ!
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons