tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 01 09:49:36 2014

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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] ghargh Doq HoD je -- loSDIch

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



quljIb:
> I know this gets confusing, but once I've got everything straight and
> grammatical, I shall put the whole thing together correctly and in order
> for you all to enjoy!!!

Since no none has responded yet, here are some suggestions...

> Herein we compare the Mountain and the Red Viper and how they stack up
> against each other:

Is it really crucial to the story that you need measurements out to two decimal points?  I know that Okrand says that "a Klingon ... is never approximate" but this is a story, not a technical manual.  I'd use the closest Klingon measurement; if necessary, rounding up.  E.g.

  jav 'ujmey 'ab SuvwI' 
  the warrior has a length of six ujs' (about 6'10") (st.k 10/22/97)

  wej 'ujmey 'ab 'oy'naQ 
  Painstiks are a little over one meter long S32

 
> {tIqqu' HoD.  jav vI' wa' 'uj 'aD.  'ej tIqqu' yanDaj.  loS vI' jav loS
>   'uj 'aD yan.}
> "The Mountain was very tall.  6.1 ujs (seven feet) tall.  And his sword
>   was very long.  4.64 ujs (64 inches) long."

I'd combine some of these short sentences (and round up the measurements):

  tIqqu' HoD; jav 'uj(mey) 'aD.  'ej tIqqu' je yanDaj: vagh 'uj.
  the mountain was very tall, measuring 6 ujs.  And his sword 
  was quite long too: 5 ujs.

I generally omit {-mey} on nouns after numbers.  Seems redundant. YMMV.

> {'ughqu' HoD.  Hut vI' wej cheb'a' ngI'.  'ej 'ughqu'  yanDaj.  
>   Cha' vI' vagh cheb ngI' yan.}
> "The Mountain was massive.  He weighed 9.3 cheb'a's (approx. 420-430
>   lbs)  And his sword was massive.  It weighed 2.5 chebs (12-13 lbs)."

  'ughqu' HoD; Hut cheb'a'(mey) ngI'. 'ej 'ughqu' yanDaj je: wej cheb.

 
> {'ej 'ughqu' may'luchDaj. mIv je DaS tuQ HoD 'ej wamaH cheb ngI' HoD
>   mayluch'e'}
> "And his armour was massive.  He wore full armour, which weighed 10
>   chebs (50 lbs)"

  'ej 'ughqu' may'luchDaj.  mIv je DaS tuQ HoD; wa'maH cheb(mey) ngI'.
  
> {'ach Hod yan tIq puS, ghargh ghIntaq tIq law'}
> "But for all the Mountains sword was long, the Viper's spear was longer."

AFAIK you can't reverse the order of {law'} and {puS}.  The {law'} element comes first:

  'ach ghargh ghIntaq tIq law' HoD yan tIq puS.
 
> {loS vI' wa' cha' 'uj 'aD tIH.  'er'In, QIn'e' tu'lu'.  wa' 'uj 'aD, 'ej
>   rur ghargh tIv jat.}
> "The shaft was 4.12 ujs long (6 ft.).  At one end was a sharp blade 1 uj
>   (just over a foot) long and shaped like the tongue of a large serpent."

{'er'In} and {megh'an} are nouns and in a place stamp need to be marked by {-Daq}:

 'er'InDaq ghargh tIn jat rurbogh QIn'e' tu'lu'; wa' 'uj(mey) 'aD.
  
> {megh'an,  moQ'e' DuwIHommey je tu'lu'.  bID cheb ngI'.}
> "At the other end, a spiked ball weighing half a cheb (roughly 2.5. lbs)."

Ditto:

  megh'anDaq moQ'e' DuQwI'Hommey je tu'lu'; bID cheb ngI'.

Tagging {moQ} with {-e'} looks clumsy here.  We know that on a dak'tahg:

  moQDaq DuQwI'Hommey jej tu'lu' 
  A brutally spiked pommel fastens the hilt together. SP2

which you can just call a {moQ} for short:

KGT 61:  at the end of the knife's handle ({ret'aq}) there is a spiked pommel, called simply {moQ} (sphere).

  megh'anDaq moQ tu'lu'; bID cheb ngI'.
  megh'anDaq bID cheb ngI'bogh moQ('e') tu'lu'.

If you really want to emphasize the "spikyness", you might say on the model of {DuQwI' pogh} "glavin, spike glove":

  megh'anDaq DuQwI' moQ tu'lu'; bID cheb ngI'.
  megh'anDaq bID cheb ngI'bogh DuQwI' moQ'e' tu'lu'.

I prefer the versions without the relative (-bogh} clause, though.  Less wordy.


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons




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