tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 06 06:51:19 1994
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Re: Warp drives (again)
According to [email protected]:
This is just a quick check, not a thorough one:
...
> ----------------Thanks, ~mark, for translating that little lot.-------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> [Here comes my attempt at translating the next paragraph in Klingon......]
>
> Rewording somewhat from the original English I posted a while ago.....
>
> A starship which travels to Alpha Centauri travels 6 hundred million
> kellicams.
> Duj //Alpha Centauri//-Daq lengbogh javvatlh 'uy' qelI'qammey leng.
The locative should come before the object, and gee, {Duj} is
probably the SUBJECT, not the OBJECT of {lengbogh}, so the word
order is rather scrambled here. {ghoS} would probably be a
better verb here than {leng}, since the ship is following a
course, it is not just wandering about. Eeeew. This one is way
scrambled.
javvatlh 'uy' qelI'qam jaH *Alpha Centauri*Daq ghoSbogh Duj'e'.
The {-'e'} is technically unnecessary if the {-Daq} is correct,
though the verb {ghoS} doesn't really need it, since any direct
object of {ghoS} is presumed to be the destination. Still, it
is such a long and oddly laid out relative clause that both the
{-Daq} and the {-'e'} may help clarify the structure of the
sentence. It doesn't hurt, anyway.
> However, the apparent time slows down as the velocity approaches one
> kellicam per year.
> 'ach machghach mojtaH poHHey wa'vatlh loSmaH 'uy' <kellicams per year>
> ghoSvIS Duj.
"But apparent time is continually becoming smallness..."? This
is ugly. The English says one kelicam per year, which is rather
slow for a starship, though the Klingon says 140,000,000
kelicams per year. Also the suffix {-vIS} is not allowed
without the suffix {-taH}.
Looking closer at this, the MEANING is just that as the ship
goes faster, time slows down. Why bother with the business
about approaching 140,000,000 kelicams per year? The math is so
incomplete in the English, you might as well leave it out
entirely in the Klingon, unless you want to be less approximate
and say that as the speed of the ship approaches X, the
progress of time decreases to zero, which is what I presume you
meant to be saying. Even then, the math is meaningless unless
you want to state the shape of the curve (linear? parabolic?
hyperbolic?) of the rate of change of time related to the rate
of change of velocity.
Try {'ach ghurtaHvIS Duj Do nuptaH poH Do.}
> This causes strange occurences to happen.
> qaSghach Huj qaSmoH 'oH. [I'm not sure about this one]
Please don't make something as ugly as {qaSghach} when the
language already has a perfectly fine {wanI'}. You also have an
alternative to {X Huj qaSmoH}. How about:
wanI'mey HujchoHmoH ghu'vam.
"This situation causes events to become strange."
> Imagine two people of the same age.
> [How do I say this?]
This is not the kind of thing a Klingon tends to say. It ranks
right in there with "Have a nice day." The term I've heard Nick
use was "irrealis", and Klingon doesn't have one. Forget the
"imagine" part.
I'll tackle these next couple sentences together.
> One remains behind, whilst one goes to Alpha Centauri and back (to Earth).
> ratlh wa' 'ej //Alpha Centauri//-Daq je tera' leng wa'.
Note that we have no indication that Klingon allows numbers to
be used as nouns. They are always attached to explicit nouns,
unless Okrand just forgot to mention that usage. You can't just
say, {ratlh wa'}. You have to say something like {ratlh wa'
nuv}.
> At the moment of time he returns, he will be younger than the person
> who stayed behind.
> <?>
rapchugh cha' nuv QuptaHghach 'ej *Alpha Centuri*Daq ghoSchugh
wa' nuv neH vaj cheghDI' lengwI' vaj ratlhwI' qan law' lengwI'
qan puS.
"If two people's being young is the same and if only one person
goes to Alpha Centuri, then when the traveler returns, then the
one who remains will be older than the traveler."
> Qapla'
>
> - toDbaj
>
> PS Does the title work for 'Ahead warp factor 9 ... Engage!' ??
Why not?
charghwI'
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