tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Nov 05 07:42:41 1993
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Bible translation
- From: [email protected] (Mark E. Shoulson)
- Subject: Bible translation
- Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1993 10:41:06 -0500
If you get HolQeD, you'll recall that one Kevin A. Wilson has started a
Klingon Bible Translation Project. Having done the odd verse of Bible
translation now and then myself, I wrote to him to stay informed of what
was doing with the project. Somewhere along the line I found myself caught
up in what started more as just a passing experiment to see if Klingon had
the stuff to translate a large quantity of complex text and, well, before I
knew it I had translated the whole book of Jonah. I spoke to Kevin last
night, and he was quite pleased by the whole thing (it's the first complete
biblical book he's heard of being translated into Klingon). I will include
it below for your perusal, and hopefully for your critiquing as well. But
first some of my usual lengthy comments and apologies....
One word on the book. I chose Jonah to start with because it was short and
also because it had a very definite and somewhat engaging story, not just a
lot of poetry or geneologies or laws. I translated from the Hebrew (having
notably less regard for translations of translations), occasionally
checking with the comments in my text (An Israeli-army issue Bible,
comments written by Shlomo Zalman Ariel) and an on-line KJV for options on
translating particularly thorny verses. I seem naturally to tend to
translate quite literally, at least when I'm doing the Bible, and Kevin
encouraged that (possibly unfortunate) tendency in his guidelines for
translations, asking for translations as close to literal as reasonable.
He also asked that proper names be transliterated, so be warned about that
(I know that the usual convention here is not to transliterate). I have
not marked verse-boundaries, though chapter-boundaries are shown with a
blank line. To make life easier for me when reading it, I've used
punctuation freely, including quotes in <<>> ("'s get lost among the
apostrophes). Line-breaks are often at sentence-breaks, or arbitrary.
I did not create any new roots, of course, though I may have coined some
perhaps non-obvious compounds (of roots and suffixes, not completely new
compound words), e.g. {SopHa'} for "vomit", as mentioned in a previous
post. Nothing brings out the shortfalls of a language-specification like
trying to translate something big and complex like this, so I was often
stymied by some of the problems we came up with on this very list, as well
as some others. For example, the "The ship in which I fled" problem; or
worse "Because of the ship in which I fled", or "Because my death is better
than my life". For sentences like that I tried to write what sorta made
sense and fit the grammar and hoped for the best. Another usage I've used
is nouns in apposition, i.e. nouns (or noun-phrases) near each other that
are intended to refer to the same thing ("Go unto Nineveh, the great
city"). This is nowhere mentioned in the canon, but it seems to me
something that would probably be used. In fact, our esteemed Captain
Krankor used it in his Klingon anthem ("Dun wo'maj, juHmaj, not Dej"--"Our
empire, our home, is great, it will never collapse"). There may be
ambiguity with the Noun-noun construction, but Hebrew also has a very
similar noun-noun construction, and uses appositional nouns anyway.
I was kind of annoyed at the lack of some really useful words that I
needed. Since I couldn't find "be afraid" except as a suffix "-vIp" (which
didn't fit), I had to use "ghIjlu'", which sounds a bit weird when "The men
feard the Lord" as "loDpu' ghIj joH'a'" ("the Lord scared the men").
Discussing Jonah with no word for "fish" was particularly exasperating; I
made do with "bIQ'a' Ha'DIbaH". Similarly for the gourd tree I stuck with
"naH Sor". The only word for "storm" is a verb, and I didn't want to
"-ghach" it, so I used it as a verb, implying that the wind, or the sea,
was storming (ignoring the fact that Okrand probably meant it in the
military sense).
Little interesting usages are all through it, some of which you may find a
bit overly innovative. Things like "nuqvo'" for "whence" (i.e. from
where), possibly stretched uses of "-vaD", etc. Couldn't do something for
"the Lord appointed a fish to swallow Jonah", so I recast to "Because the
Lord planned [it], a fish swallowed Jonah". There was no word for "lots"
as in casting them to find out whose fault the storm was, so I had them
gamble (SuD), and Jonah "was shown" rather than having the lot fall on him.
I was pleased that I got to use "net" somewhere, you'll see it. I tried to
be rather careful with the tenses, using "-pu'" only for perfectives, not
pasts, and "-ta'" when it made more sense, and even a "rIntaH". Some of
the sentences may be particularly confusing, e.g. "HeghvaD QaQ jIQeHghach",
but at least in that case, it's confusing in the Hebrew and in just about
every translation I've seen, so it deserves to be in Klingon too.
There being no word for "east" I used an idea that Kevin thought up while I
was talking to him. We sort of have to stick with fore/aft/right/left,
because that's all we have, but at least in this context, I can assign them
with a bit of confidence, since in Biblical Hebrew "east" is often referred
to by a root meaning "forward", thus west is behind, north and south are
left and right. One annoying thing in the last verse is that Nineveh
contains more than two myriads of people. I could say "two myriads of
people" easy enough, but not "more than". Bummer.
For lack of any better idea, I used "joH'a'" for God, and "joH" for "god".
This will cause problems for distinguishing between Adonai and Elohim.
Sorry the introduction has rambled so much; I probably could keep going on
and apologizing for it... Please look this through and give me some
feedback before I send this in to Kevin. Oh, and since this is for
something that may be published I guess I should mumble something about a
copyright, blah blah blah. Basically, ghItlhvam DanIHchugh, batlh
bIHeghbe', 'ej tugh bIHegh... :-)
=========
joH'a' SoQ Hev 'amItay puqloD ghaHbogh yona'e', 'ej ja'
<<SuH yIHu'! nInveyDaq veng tInDaq yIghoS 'ej 'oHvaD yIjach
jIHDaq SIchpu'mo' mIghghachchaj.>>
'ach joH'a'vo' tarSISDaq Haw'meH Hu' yona
'ej yapoDaq ghIr 'ej tarSISDaq ghoSbogh Duj'e' Sam,
'ej HuchDaj DIl 'ej joH'a'vo' tarSISDaq chaH tlhejmeH 'oH 'el.
'ach bIQ'a'Daq SuS'a' qaSmoH joH'a',
'ej bIQ'a'Daq jev,
'ej Duj ghorlu' net pIH.
'ej beq ghIjlu', 'ej joHpu'chajvaD jach Hoch,
'ej chaHvaD tISmoHmeH Dochmey'e' ngaSbogh Duj woD.
'ach Duj DopDaq ghIr yona,
'ej Qot 'ej Dum.
vaj ghaHDaq ghoS Duj HoD 'ej ghaHvaD ja'
<<nuq Data' DumwI'? SuH yIHu', joHlI'vaD yIjach.
chaq joH'a' wIbelmoH vaj maHeghbe'.>>
'ej ja'chuq <<nuvmo' maHvaD qaSbogh wanI'vam qab maSovmeH maSuDjaj.>>
vaj SuD, 'ej yona 'anglu'.
vaj luja' <<ghoja', SoHmo' maHvaD qaSbogh wanI'vam qab,
QapghachlIj nuq? 'ej nuqvo' bIghoS? nuq 'oH wo'lIj'e'?
'ej nuq 'oH qorDu''a'lIj'e'?>>
'ej chaHvaD jang <<'IbrIyngan jIH, 'ej joH'a', bIQ'a' yav je chenmoHbogh
chal joH'e' vItoy'.>>
'ej loDpu' ghIjqu'lu'
'ej luja' <<nuq'e' Data'ta'?>> joH'a'vo' Haw' 'e' luSovmo', chaHvaD
ja'ta'mo'.
'ej luja' <<maHvaD jotchoHmeH bIQ'a' SoHvaD nuq wIta'nIS?>>
'ej chaHvaD ja' <<HIwoH 'ej bIQ'a'Daq HIwoD, vaj tlhIHvaD jotchoH bIQ'a',
jIHmo' tlhIHvaD jevqu' 'e' vISovmo'.>>
'ach puHDaq ghoSqa' 'e' lunID,
'ach QaplaHbe', chaHvaD jevqu'taH bIQ'a'.
'ej joH'a'vaD jach chaH, 'ej luja'
<<SuH joH'a', yIn loDvammo' maHeghbe'jaj,
'ej 'Iw chunmo' ghopIchQo'. joH'a' SoH, Doch DaneHbogh Data' rIntaH.>>
'ej yona luwoH, 'ej bIQ'a'Daq luwoD,
'ej jev 'e' mev bIQ'a'.
'ej loDpu' ghIj joH'a', 'ej joH'a'vaD nob lumeQ, 'ej 'Ipmey 'Ip.
'ach nabmo' joH'a' yona ghup bIQ'a' Ha'DIbaH tIn.
'ej wej jaj wej ram je bIQ'a' Ha'DIbaH burghDaq ghaHtaH yona.
'ej bIQ'a' Ha'DIbaH burghDaq ghaHtaHvIS joH'a' joHDaj qoy' yona.
'ej jatlh:
<<'oy'wIjDaq jIHtaHvIS joH'a'vaD jIjachpu' 'ej mujang,
ghe''or burghDaq jIHtaHvIS jIqoy'pu'; ghoghwIj DaQoypu'.
bIngDaq, bIQ'a' tIqDaq chongeHpu', 'ej muDech bIQtIq,
mujuSpu' yu'eghlIj HoSghaj Hoch.
'ej jIjatlh jIH
<<mInDu'lIjvo' vInge'lu'pu',>>
'ach chIrghlIj quvDaq jInejqa'taH.
qa'wI' Dech bIQ, muDech ghe''or, nachwIjDaq bIQ tI qatlu'.
HuD HeHDaq vIghIrpu', reH yav mo'Daq qama' jIH,
'ach QIHvo' yInwIj DaSalmoH, joH'a' joHwI'.
pujchoHDI' qa'wI', joH'a' vIqaw, 'ej SoHDaq, chIrghlIj quvDaq ghoS
qoy'ghachwIj.
pungchaj ghajHa' ramwI' ngeb toy'wI'pu',
'ach ghogh tlho' vIlo'taHvIS qatoy' jIH'e',
Dochmey vI'Ippu'bogh vInob, toDghach ghajmo' joH'a'.>>
'ej bIQ'a' Ha'DIbaH ra' joH'a', vaj puHDaq yona [SopHa'].
joH'a' SoQ Hevqa' yona, 'ej ja'
<<SuH yIHu'! nInveyDaq veng tInDaq yIghoS 'ej 'oHvaD
jachghach qajatlhbogh yIjach.>>
vaj Hu' yona 'ej nInveyDaq ghoS, ra'mo' joH'a'.
'ej [[joH'a' 'etDaq]] veng tIn 'oH nInvey'e',
wej jaj nI' lengDaj.
vaj vengDaq wa' jaj leng ghoS 'e' tagh yona
'ej jach 'ej ja' <<loSmaHleS nInvey Qaw'lu'!>>
'ej joH'a' luHar nInvey nganpu',
vaj SopQo'ghach lura', 'ej Sut ghegh tuQ potlhchaj ramwI'chaj je.
'ej De' Hev nInvey ta', 'ej quSDajvo' Hu',
'ej ghaHvo' ngupDaj tuQHa' 'ej Sut ghegh tuQ 'ej lamDaq ba'.
'ej jach, 'ej ra'mo' ta' yaSDaj je nInveyDaq jatlhlu'
<<SopQo'jaj nuvpu' Ha'DIbaHmey je, 'ej bIQ lutlhutlhQo'jaj.
'ach Sut ghegh tuQ nuvpu' Ha'DIbaHmey je
'ej HoSjaj 'ej joH'a'vaD jachjaj,
'ej Hechaj mIghvo' ralghachchajvo' ngaSbogh ghopDu'chaj je chegh'eghjaj.
vaj wuqqa' joH'a' 'ej QeH 'e' mev 'ej maHeghbe' 'e' Sov 'Iv?>>
'ej Dochmey ta'bogh legh joH'a', Hechaj mIghvo' chegh'eghpu'mo',
vaj chaHvaD qabwI' ta'meH jatlhpu'bogh wuqqa', 'ej ta'be'.
'ach belHa'qu'moH yona, 'ej QeHqu'.
'ej joH'a' qoy' yona 'ej ja'
<<SuH, joH'a', wo'wIjDaq jIHtaHvIS vuDwIj 'oH Dochvam'e', qar'a'?
'ej Dochvammo' tarSISDaq jIHaw'pu';
pung ghajbogh 'ej qejHa'bogh 'ej QIt QeHchoHbogh 'ej mIghghach qelqa'bogh
joH'e' SoH 'e' vISovmo'.
vaj DaH, joH'a', jIHvo' yInwIj yItlhapneS,
HeghwIj QaQ law' yInwIj QaQ puS.>>
'ach ja' <<QaQ'a' bIQeHghach?>>
vaj veng mej yona, 'ej veng 'et[????]Daq yInchoH.
'ej vengvaD qaS nuq 'e' leghmeH
pa' juHHom cher, 'ej QIbDaq bIngDajDaq ba'.
'ej nabmo' joH'a' nachDajDaq QIb chenmoHmeH 'ej mIghghachDajmo' toDmeH
yona DungDaq Sal naH Sor.
vaj naH Sormo' Quchqu' yona.
'ach nabmo' joH'a' tlha'bogh jaj jajlo' naH Sor HIv ghargh,
'ej QaDchoH.
vaj tujDI' Hov, nabmo' joH'a' qaS 'et[?????] SuS,
vaj nach yona HIv Hov, 'ej vulchoH.
'ej Hegh neH, 'ej ja' <<HeghwIj QaQ law' yInwIj QaQ puS.>>
'ej yonavaD ja' joH'a' <<QaQ'a' naH Sormo' bIQeHghach?>>
'ej ja' <<HeghvaD QaQ jIQeHghach>> [??]
'ach ja' joH'a'
<<naH Sormo' bIvumpu'be'bogh 'ej Dapeppu'be'bogh 'ej
wa' ram SaHbogh 'ej wa' ram lojbogh pung Daghaj SoH,
'ej nInveymo' veng tInmo', nIHchajmo' poSchajmo' mISbogh cha' netlh [???]
nuv Ha'DIbaHmey law' je ngaSbogh 'oH pung vIghajbe''a'?>>
================
Enjoy.
~mark