tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 13 15:36:13 1994
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KLBC: Grammar question
- From: [email protected] (Bill Willmerdinger)
- Subject: KLBC: Grammar question
- Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 22:07:00 -0500
yI'Ij! "KLBC: Grammar question" Bill Willmerdinger jatlhchu'pu' Uucp
Uu> From: ur-valhalla!aol.com!dls9
>After watching "Blood Oath", I decided to try translating a couple of the
>lines which our Klingon brothers spoke. One in particular which I wanted
>to translate was "Perhaps it is a good day to live."
>chaq yInmeH jaj QaQ 'oH DaHjaj'e'
Uu> I would just like to suggest
Uu> {DaHjaj chaq QaQ yIn}
Uu> "Today perhaps life is good".
That's not precisely what the English is trying to convey, though. The
English
sentence is a rather roundabout way of saying that the person doesn't want to
die (and maybe that ought to be the way to say it. Hmm....)
Uu> Using the {-meH} in this case doesn't look right to me, because it
Uu> implies that there is a purpose.The English "to live" is not always the
Uu> same as {yInmeH}. {yInmeH} is more accurately translated by "in order
Uu> to live, for the purpose of living".
Um. I see your point.
As I've commented to Amy West on several occasions, I have a fairly strong
tendency to try to translate literally. I know it doesn't usually work, but
I'm having a hard time breaking myself of the habit. Perhaps this is because
the only language I have any experiance with besides English is German, which
is similar enough that I had few problems this way.
Uu> Hope that helps. The {-meH} suffix was one of the toughest suffixes
Uu> for me to grasp when I first started learning Klingon. I don't know how
Uu> true that would be of everyone, tho.
{-meH}, {-bogh} and {-lu'} are my problems. Thanks for the input.
Bill
... From the Bridge of IKV Crystal Dagger, Rochester NY