Hello, I'm new here, but not completely new at the Klingon language. A few years ago I have even recorded a song with part of the lyrics in Klingon (since the title was Klingon Mach).
Today I have been conversating with a student in Klingon and now I need to do my own phrasing. So I tried with an online translator, but I found it difficult, because everytime when I translated an English phrase into Klingon and then back again into English it came out completely different. After a while I learned a bit better how it works, but I still have problems, especially with the dative and the distinction between nouns and adjectives. Anyway, my phrase seems to be ready now and I'd like to submit it to see if it is comprehensible and you understand it the way it was meant.
Here it is:
jach HoD: maqcha! bo ruch teS verengan not nob
In the process the translator came out with another nice one, so I post that too:
verengan teS not SoQ
This is much easier and I actually don't know if it's new, so maybe you have already heard it. Moreover it seems a bit in contradiction with the previous, which makes the interpretation of that one a bit more challenging.
Thanks for your attention!
To me it looks like a bunch of words strung together in an ungrammatical fashion.
The words you use are:
jach — scream
HoD — capitain
maqcha — ???
bo — a verbal prefix for a second person plural subject acting on a third person object.
ruch — proceed, go ahead
teS –ear
verengan — Ferengi
not — never
nob — give
SoQ — be closed
I'm not really sure what you're trying say with the first sentence. I assume with the second you are trying to say, "A Ferengi's ears are never closed." But the sentence you have is ungrammatical. The correct way to say it is {not SoQ verengan teSDu'}. (-Du' is the plural suffix for body parts.)
I suspect the proper word for ear in this context would be {Qogh} rather than {teS}. {Qogh} is the visible, external part, while {teS} is the inner ear where the actual sound-sensing organ exists.
*{maqcha'} is something said by Captain Martok in the DS9 episode "Soldiers of the Empire". He gives it as an order to the helmsman, and in context it means the same thing as when Picard says "engage". Martok even did the typical gesture associated with that order.
Yes, this is all right. You guessed the second one. Regarding the first, we are finally getting closer to what I meant to say and now that you have guessed, I can reveal it. My idea started with the Italian saying "fare orecchie da mercante", which means: turn a deaf ear like a merchant. I think it refers to a merchant feigning not to hear your call. So my phrase should have been: Don't dare turning a Ferengi ear on your captain yelling: Engage! That was too complicated, so I divided it as follows: The captain yells: Engage. Never give him a Ferengi ear! (in the sense of: Don't feign deafness, as we know that your ears are excellent!) So how would you translate that? In any case I think teS should be actually right, as you don't offer (or refuse) your ear for food but to listen. Thanks for your comments.
Well, I would translate your longer sentence (still using your preference for {teS}), as follows: {"maqcha'" jachDI' HoDlI' not verengan teS yInob} Literally, this is, "When your captain yells engage, never give him a Ferengi ear."
Thanks, that's the sentence I wanted. So I hope it will be understood. The online translator however gets it completely wrong: These are some results (depending on omitting the quotation marks or not) — 1. (with quotation marks): "maqcha'" should be given when the captain and the limits to which the Ferengi never — 2. (without quotation marks): When the captain and the Ferengi cried out maqcha' never give ear (this appears a bit closer) — 3. (without quotation marks, but a colon after HoDlI'): When the captain and the maqcha' the Ferengi cried out, and never give your ears — 4. (with quotation marks and a colon after HoDlI'): "maqcha'" when the captain cried out, and the Ferengi never give ear
Don't use any online translators. They don't produce grammatical Klingon 99% of the time. Those sentences mean something like: The captain screamed: the torpedo proclaims! Y'all ear's Ferengis do it. He never gives. Ear's Ferengi. He/she/it is never closed