tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 03 23:27:33 1993

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: tlhIngan 'o' Humghach

>I have been left in the dark by most of this post. What follows is my attempt
>to make sense of it, together with some comments. (This is not intended as a
>flame, and I'm sorry if it came out as one.)

jIH je!  vIyajchu'be'pu'.


>Doch tlha' jatlh trI'Qal:
>: 
>: 
>: 
>: lIHaghmoHmeH: wa'maH maS tlhIngan 'o' Humghach
>"In order that they make you laugh: Top Ten Klingon bumper stickers."
>I think you mean >wa'maH tlhingan 'o' Humwi'[mey] maSlu'< or some such.
>>Humghach< would mean "adhesion", not "sticker".

majQa', marnen!  yajghachlIj QaQ law' yajghachwIj QaQ puS.  "Humghach"vaD
"stickiness" vImughpu', 'ej mu'tlhegh vIyajbe'chu'pu'!  'ach "sticker"
Hech "HumwI'" net yajlaHbej.


>>> : wa'maH: nuvpu''e' DughuHmoHbogh SoSlI'maHtaH
>>> "10: Your mother@#%$#@#@ alerts people."
>>> What does >-maHtaH< mean?
>>
>>     "We are the people your mother warned you about."
>>
>>     I HATE "maHtaH" as "We are". Just "maH" would have been better form.

ja'pu' 'Iv?  jIQochchu'qu'.  "maHtaH" DamuSlaHtaH, 'ach lughtaH 'oH. "maH" neH
vIlo' jIH vImughchugh 'e' vIchID, 'ach -taH neHchugh ghaH, -taH ghajlaH.  naDev
"individual style" ghajlaH Hoch lughchugh pabDaj 'ej yajchugh Hoch.  "maHtaH"
DamuS SoH, vaj Da'lo' 'e' raD pagh. HochvaD Hoch DalughmoH 'e' 'oHbe'
Qu'lIj'e', charghwI'. batlhlIj DaSuqqa'meH tlhIngan Hol DaghItlhchoH 'e'
DamaSnIS.

>>Even better form would be to avoid this unnecessary "to be" and say, "maH
>>Datlhejbe' DughuHmoHtaH SoSlI'" = "Your mother always warns you to not
>>accompany us." That's much more to the point, and much more
>>characteristically Klingon. 

ja' SoH.  jIQochqa'.

HIyaj:  lughbej mu'tlheghlIj, 'ej Dalo'DI' SoH, qay'be'.  'ach mu'tlheghlIj
QaQ law' mu'tlheghDaj QaQ puS 'e' DatoblaHbe'-- ngerlIj neH 'oH.  QaQ
nger 'ej pIj vIbuS jIH 'ej vIlo'.  'ach nger 'oH vaj chupghach neH 'oHlaH--
chut 'oHbe'.  bIchup DaneHchugh, qay'be', 'ach chut 'oH 'e' DaDa.  ngoDmey
rapbe' vuDmeylIj.

qatlh jISaH?  qaja':  naDev ghojlI'mo' HochHey, 'ut lughmoHghachmey law'.  pab
Qagh law' HeS HochHey (jIQagh jIH je).  vay' tungchoHlu' vIneHbe', vaj
'utbe'bogh lughmoHghachmey latlh vImaSHa'.  HIja', potlhbej "style".  'ach
lughojrupbe' nuv law'.  wej pab'e' yajchugh vay', wa'DIch pab ghoj 'e' yIchaw'.
jabbI'IDvamDaq pab Qagh yap tu'lu'.

vaj:  "style"wIj Daja'chuq DaneH?  pup, yIta'bej.  po'bogh nuvpu' latlh joq.
'ach vIja'qa':  HochvaD Hoch DalughmoH 'e' 'oHbe' Qu'lIj'e'.

'ej Data' 'e' Daqapchugh, SuvwI' Hol yIlo'.  (may Hoch tlhIngan HolDaq
'oHchugh {{;-)


>>     If you insisted on the original construction, "DughuHmoHbogh SoSlI'"
>>would have been better placed first in the sentence. There is no example I
>>know that justifies placing it in the middle. It is quite confusing there.
>> 
>>     Keep trying. You set yourself up for a significant challenge, and though
>>the results were a little rough, it was quite worthwhile.
>>
>>     Qapla'
>>--   charghwI'

>Not necesarily. >nuvpu' DughuHmoHbogh SoSli'< = "your mother warns you about
>people". >nuvpu''e' DughuHmoHbogh SoSli'< = "the people your mother warns you
>about". It's a perfectly legitimate and proper construction, so much so that
>I'm not sure how else you'd say it.

lugh marnen.

wa' qay'ghach neH ghajpu' mu'tlhegh:  cha' mu' 'oHnIS "SoSlI'maHtaH"'e':
SoSlI' maHtaH.  "space" lIjlu'pu'mo' mamIS.


>: Hut: Qaw' Qawbe' pagh
>"9: To destroy or not to destroy."
>I'm assuming you mean >Qaw'be'.<

naDev qay'bej vay'.  "To destroy or not to destroy" == "Qaw' pagh Qaw'be'".
"Qaw' Qaw'be' pagh" == "Nothing destroys destruction" (DIp 'oHlaH "Qaw'"'e'
'e' wIchaw'chughqu' [heheh, can I put that -qu' on -chugh to stress the
iffy-ness?  Very dubious, I acknowledge].


>: chorgh: Dochvam DaloDlaHchuch pu' chuqDaq bISaHlI'
>"8: If you can read this, you care about the distant phaser."
>>nuqjatlh jay'?< This is all I can make out of this (assuming you mean
>>DalaDlaHchugh<, and overlooking the incorrect (?) prefix on >biSaHli'<.)

ahhhhh, Dayajqa'moH marnen!  "DalaDlaHchugh" 'oHchugh, vaj mu'vetlhvam
wImughchoHlaH.  'ach lugh "bISaHlI'".  cha' Hechghach ghaj "SaH" 'e' yIqaw
(pIj vIlIj je).


>: Soch: romuluSngan Hegh 'oH romuluSngan QaQ'e' neH
>"7: Only a good Romulan is a dying Romulan."
>I think you mean "the only good Romulan is a dead Romulan", and I'm not
>exactly sure how to say that in Klingon. My guess would be something along the
>lines of >romuluSngan Heghpu' 'oH wa' romuluSngan QaQ'e'< -- "the one good
>Romulan is a dead Romulan" -- but that comes out very ambiguously in Klingon,
>thanks to the lack of articles. >niD latlh vay' neH'a'?<

Hegh == "to die"; "to be dead" 'oHbe'.  vaj:

    Heghpu'bogh romuluSngan 'oH romuluSngan QaQ'e' neH

"style" wIja'chuq neHbej charghwI', vaj:  chaq naDev loQ "bland" "QaQ".
chaq vImughchugh jIH, vIlIng:

    Heghpu'bogh romuluSngan 'oH romuluSngan lI''e' neH

pagh chaq (charghwI' qechmey pabmeH)

    lI' Heghpu'bogh romuluSngan neH

(bIlegh'a', charghwI'?  jIchup, jIqapbe')


>: jav: vagh DIS Qu'ma':  qIb qum
>"6: Our five-year plan: to govern the galaxy."
>No problems here, except that >-ma'< is only used to show possession of
>language-using nouns, so it should have been >Qu'maj<.

qar.


>: vagh: <<pu'meywIj yISop>> ja'ta' 'er
>"5: The >'er< told him 'Eat phasers.'"

"*my* phasers".  pu'mey*wIj*.

>If you just mean "said", >jatlhta'< would be better than >ja'ta'<.....

ghobe', pIj ja' lo'lu'.  reH "list"vam wIlo'taH.  machqu' pImghach.

'ach Qagh latlh tu'lu'.  lughbe' "yISop".  "tISop"!



>: loS: HeghwI' quv law' DIvI' quv puS
>"4: Diers are honored more than the Federation."
>I think you mean >Heghpu'wi'<, "ones who have dies"

qarqa'.


>: wa': tera' wIQaw'ta' 'ej 'o' Humghachvam rIgh wIHevpu' neH
>"1: We destroyed Terra and all we got was this lousy bumper sticker!"
>No problems, except for >Humghach< which should be >Humwi'<.

jIQochbe'.


>jiHagh.<

DaH vIyajchoHmo', jIHagh je.


                --Qanqorra'

Back to archive top level