tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 01 09:43:56 2010
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RE: choH vs. choHmoH
Andre:
>> But the canon phrases we have seem to contradict each other. Look at the
>> two phrases Voragh gave for {choH}:
>> [....]
>> ghopDu' choHpu' Qe'
>> The restaurant has altered hands. (KGT)
>>
>> The first one shows clearly that {choH} is transitive, the second one
>> as well (the English phrasing seems a little weird to me, does it mean
>> that the restaurant got a different owner now?).
Lucas Big-Guy:
>Perhaps it is representing a change of staff. (shift change)
If you read the quotation from KGT I posted with that example you'll see that Okrand was actually giving an example of how NOT to translate idioms. Here's the paragraph in full:
KGT 106-7: It is important to note that an idiom usually cannot be translated from one language into another and carry with it the same meaning. Thus, to a speaker of Federation Standard, "We hit a target" conveys information only about hitting a target and has nothing to do with agreeing. By the same token, literally translating a sentence such as "The restaurant changed hands" into Klingon, presumably as {ghopDu' choHpu' Qe'} ("The restaurant has altered hands") or perhaps {ghopDu' tampu' Qe'} ("The restaurant has exchanged hands"), does not tell the Klingon that the restaurant is now under new ownership, which is what the Federation Standard phrase really means. Assuming that a restaurant can do anything at all (which it probably cannot--only a being of some sort can do something), the only meaning a Klingon would glean from these sentences is that the restaurant acquired hands (meaning only body parts) that it previously did not have. Even given Klingon cuisine, this would be highly unusual. Idioms are very much language (and culture) specific.
IOW although the English idiom "changed hands" can be translated literally into Klingon, the resulting translation wouldn't be understood and would in fact sound nonsensical to a Klingon.
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons