tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 23 22:19:29 1994

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Re: KLBC: Another saying



>> And how about this phrase for 'How do you say _(insert word)_ in Klingon?'
>> 
>> chay' _____ Dajatlh tlhIngan Hol DajatlhtaHvIs

>Pretty good, though it might seem more direct to say:

> ______  chay' jatlh tlhInganpu'?

>[...]

>What think others?

tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhqu'taHvIS wa' tera'ngan mu' vISovbe' 'e' vItlhojDI'
vIjatlh:

<whatever Klingon word> vIQummeH nuq vIjatlh?

tlhIngan mu''e' vISovbe'DI' vIjatlh:

<whatever Terran word> vIQummeH nuq vIjatlh?

>> Feel free to shred my new sig too. <g>
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Margaret Kipp     [email protected]
>> Transportation chief   USS Galaxy
>> If you do not wish a thing heard; do not say it.
>> Doch Qoylu' DaneHbe'chugh yIjatlhQo'
>> 
>> 

>Sounds fine. I prefer to include the implied {vaj} but many on
>this list disagree. Some might quibble over the use of {Doch}
>which might be idiomatic to English, in that for all we know,
>{Doch} is never applied to something so abstract as this, but I
>can deal with it. {Doch} may well only apply to items that
>exhibit mass. To avoid such controversy, you might use a word
>like {joS}. It seems more appropriate than {qech}.

<vaj> lo'lu'DI' loQ qaqlaw' mu'tlhlegh. 'a <vaj> lo'lu'be'chugh vaj
lughqu'ba'taH.

[thing] DaQummeH {SoQ}'e' chaq yIlo'.

>charghwI'

I don't really agree with the use of {-lu'} here. The reason why is not
grammatically-, but culturally-based. My explanation as to why is rather
rather lengthy, but here goes:

Languages employ a variety of voices (active, passive, circumstantial, etc.)
either to avoid mentioning something they don't wish to mention, or to
conceal the fact that the speaker doesn't know the thing which he avoids
mentioning.

"Where is Jim?"

"He was kidnapped!"

The passive here allows the speaker to avoid saying just who kidnapped Jim,
either because he doesn't know who kidnapped him or he wants that information
to remain unsaid, for whatever reason. Both these are possible signs of
unadmirable traits among Klingons: either indicating ignorance or
deviousness.

Sometimes passives are merely used to draw out conversation. The first
speaker may find out who kidnapped Jim thru further conversation. But again
this would be uncommon among Klingons who are known for getting directly to
the point.

I myself restrict my usage of {-lu'} to cases where the subject could be a
broad range of possibilities:

[thing] Qumlu'meH <Doch> lo'lu'

where the subject is indefinite, because it could be you or I or any other
person who uses {Doch} to mean "thing". I also use it where the subject is
unimportant/redundant.


Guido#1, Leader of All Guidos



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