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The Klingon Language Institute Forums Translation Requests Dog commands in Klingon

  • Dog commands in Klingon

    Posted by Aelirenn on December 24, 2023 at 6:07 am

    Hello,

    I have registered to ask for this specific favor.

    I am getting a puppy and instead of teaching her commands in German (I live in Europe, near Germany and Switzerland, where those languages are used) I would like teach her commands in Klingon. I find it most suitable for a magnificent beast she will become 😀

    Could you do me an honor of proposing best suitable words for basic commands listed below?

    • Sit
    • Stay
    • Come
    • Down
    • Leave it
    • Drop it
    • Heel
    • Off
    • Watch (Look at me)

    Thank you in advance!

    bIrchoH replied 6 months ago 3 Members · 15 Replies
  • 15 Replies
  • qurgh

    Administrator
    December 28, 2023 at 8:01 pm

    Sorry for the delay in replying. With the holidays going on I haven’t been online much.

    Power Klingon has a section on Pet Commands. I recommend listening to it to get a general idea of how commands work: https://hol.kag.org/page/audio.html?f=20%20Pet%20commands

    Then you just use the verbs or phrases that match the commands you want to say:

    • Sit – ba’
    • Stay – ratlh
    • Come – naDev ghoS
    • Leave it – lon
    • Drop it – chagh
    • Off – lItHa’
    • Watch – HIqIm
    • Stop – mev
  • Aelirenn

    Member
    January 15, 2024 at 6:41 am

    I also apologize for not replying faster, I had really hard year start at work 😒 And later website seemed to have problems and I could not log in.

    Thank you very much, this is very helpful! However, now I am worried about correct pronouncing, because I have no experience with Klingon 😩

  • bIrchoH

    Member
    March 13, 2024 at 9:56 am

    Great to see someone actually considers using Klingon commands. How well are you dealing with the pronunciation, and did you give your dog a Klingon name?

    Qapla’

    • Aelirenn

      Member
      March 14, 2024 at 7:19 am

      We start training in April. I need to make a cheat sheet and memorize the commands 😁

      Puppy got home two weeks ago and we didn’t come up with a name yet. Usually we go with something related to the pet’s character or looks (had cats named Anubis and Fuss, now we have Shuri and Baby).

      Could be Klingon, could be SW, could be anything. She has a pedigree name, but it is not convenient.

      Any nice Klingon names you would recommend?

      I was also considering asking for translation of most frequent phrases directed at the puppy:

      • Leave the kitty alone! meaning: stop chasing and biting the cat
      • What TF are you chewing?! meaning: spit it out
      • No borking. meaning: stop barking at people, or be quiet
      • Stop biting/chewing your missus! meaning: stop biting/chewing parts of me

      😄

      • bIrchoH

        Member
        March 14, 2024 at 1:11 pm

        A cheat sheet is perfectly acceptable if it helps. See https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprachaufbau_des_Klingonischen for the proper pronunciation of every sound; even though the descriptions are in German and I don’t know if you speak the language, the IPA being used should be very useful. Ask an Arab to practice the pronunciation of the letter q (ق) with you if your pronunciation doesn’t differ from thwt of the non-emphatic consonant yet. S [ʂ​], gh [ɣ], Q [q͡χ], and tlh [t͡ɬ] are likely to require some practice, too, as might other sounds, depending on your background.

        Female Klingon names that come to mind would be lurveng (ultimate stress), beylana (like B’Elanna Torres), and mara (penultimate stress), the latter being less obvious to the average Terran and also a name associated with Star Wars due to Mara Jade.

        I am still too much of a noob to offer proper translations for every phrase, but ‘Be quiet!’ should be tam, and maybe ‘What are you chewing?’ could be translated as nuq DayIv; I could be wrong though, so please wait for a third person’s approval or correction!


        Qapla’

        • This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by  bIrchoH.
        • Aelirenn

          Member
          April 6, 2024 at 11:10 am

          She almost got named Drama 😄 Because she boldlybe endures all scary things but afterwards she is so vocal about it 😂 She is making a scene every time she did not like something 😆

          We named her Diva. I have no clue how it would be written in Klingon 🤔

          • This reply was modified 7 months ago by  Aelirenn.
          • bIrchoH

            Member
            April 15, 2024 at 3:53 pm

            Sorry for not replying earlier, but I have reasons beyond procrastination, meaning a lot of distress and so on for the last ‘few’ weeks and those to come, too. This should also explain why I managed to forget that you come from an area where German is spoken between reading your initial post and my reply; I find that truly embarrassing and dishonourable.

            Now, the reply you were waiting for, hopefully a satisfactory one:

            If you want her Latin name to sound like Klingon, I would suggest DI’wa’ (assuming a traditional pronunciation of V as a glide [w] as evidenced by ancient Greek transcriptions of Latin words) or DI’va’ (if you want [v] for Latin V). In case you or anyone else reading this might need instructions: ’ is a glottal stop and means that the preceding vowel is short, and Klingon I is to be pronounced closer to the vowel in ‘prick’ or ‘thin’ than ‘sheet’ or ‘leaf’ which definitely wouldn’t be appropriate examples; or, since you speak German, think of im or immer, not ihm or Diener.

            Hope this helps.

            Qapla’

            • Aelirenn

              Member
              April 16, 2024 at 8:47 am

              I am grateful for your time, no matter when you share it with me.

              I only know some German, it is not my native language. I know English better (not my native language either). I used to learn Russian (can still read well, but have zero knowledge of what I am reading) and speak fluently Polish (we have some really weird sounds 😁). I tried to catch up with French, Swedish, Czech and Korean during my work assignments, so I have pretty wide spectrum of what I can get out of my mouth 😎

              English is such a limited language, that using it to describe other languages is actual handicap 🙄Luckily, there is IPA…

              DI’va’ it is 👍🏻

            • bIrchoH

              Member
              April 28, 2024 at 11:54 am

              Good to know that my efforts are appreciated, I just wish it took less time and that the time was less awful; my distress level has actually increased since, and I know I wouldn’t be able to bear my current situation if I hadn’t gone through unbearable times more often than many could imagine. It will probably be different in a few weeks though.

              Qapla’

            • Aelirenn

              Member
              April 30, 2024 at 4:59 am

              Same here 😒 This is some kind of shitty season, things are going to hell one by one…

              Even Di’va’ got sick pretty bad and scared the shit out of me (she is better now).

              I wouldn’t have survived pandemics if it was not my cats, now she is the one keeping me on my feet ☺️ (cats too, but they are grumpy, because she wants to play with them 😎).

              I do recommend getting a pet if it is possible. Makes wonders to your mental health. Even a hamster (had mine smuggled into my dorm years ago 😏). You could also get a tribble, if you are responsible enough 😁

            • bIrchoH

              Member
              May 2, 2024 at 7:06 pm

              Good to know that DI’va’ is better now, and no doubt about your cats having gotten you through the pandemic.

              Getting a pet is impossible, at least now. I can only confirm the effect on your mental health; as a matter of fact, the only bearable moments this Tuesday were the few minutes with a cat in my former neighbourhood. Getting a tribble would be a bad idea, but you have my respect for daring to suggest this on a Klingon forum.

              Qapla’

  • Aelirenn

    Member
    April 6, 2024 at 11:25 am

    We got first lesson, sit and come went well, thank you @qurgh

    However, now I need some other commands, they are already in use in the training, anyone could help?

    • Down (when dog sits like a Sphinx)
    • Walk beside me (in my language it’s short „line up”, „walk evenly”)
    • Relax (I don’t expect this word to exist in Klingon 😂, but something like „off duty” or „at ease” would be great)

    Thanks!

    • This reply was modified 7 months ago by  Aelirenn.
    • This reply was modified 7 months ago by  Aelirenn.
  • bIrchoH

    Member
    April 15, 2024 at 4:12 pm

    You may also care about Klingon teacher Lieven Litaer’s following lesson:

    https://iv.melmac.space/watch?v=LE6dslFoPEc

    His pronunciation of certain sounds is too European though; my criticism comes from a purely linguistic perspective without any disrespect intended, and I hope that nobody thought otherwise.

  • Aelirenn

    Member
    April 30, 2024 at 5:18 am

    Below if full list for beginners training. Could you help me with missing ones and the ones I am not sure of (bold)? Or if anything else could be replaced by better match?

    • Sit – ba’
    • Stay – ratlh
    • Come here – naDev ghoS
    • Leave it – lon
    • Drop it – chagh
    • Off – lItHa’
    • Watch – HIqIm
    • Stop – mev
    • Down – ‘ung /when dog sits like a Sphinx, not sure if it is the right one
    • Car – Duj /used for „get in the car”
    • Out – lel /used for „get out” of something, like car or room
    • Stand – Qam
    • Off duty (relax) – len /(recess, break)
    • Wrong – muj
    • Straight – wan /„Walk beside me in even line”. Not sure, I could not find anything better
    • Sit next to me – poSwlj (on my left), nIHwIj (on my right)
    • Lay down – ? /lay down and release
    • Go to your stand by/resting place – ?
    • Target, base – DoS, waw’
    • Pass, move around it – juS
    • Snout/mouth optionally teeth –?
    • Come to me – HIjaH /dog runs to you and sits in front of you
    • Fetch – qem /not good because similar with stand
    • Be quiet – yItamchoH

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