tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 21 21:42:13 1994
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Re: qamuSHa'ta'
- From: Terry Donnelly <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: qamuSHa'ta'
- Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 23:42:12 -0600 (CST)
ghItlh charghwI':
> According to Terry Donnelly:
>>
>> The recent discussion of how to say 'love' reminded me of a poem I
>> wrote a while ago. Please critique this:
>>
>>
>> qamuSHa'ta'
>>
>> qamuSHa'ta'; chaq qa'wIjDaq
>> wej Heghchu' bangwIj'e'.
>
> Hmm. Remember that {bang} refers to a person in Klingon, not an
> abstract emotion.
*My* copy ot TKD defines {bang} as "love, one who is loved". I don't get
any sense from this that {bang} refers only to persons. On the contrary,
my reading of that definition implies that the personalization is a
function of the abstract meaning, in the same way that we might call
someone "My love" in English.
[deletions]
>> chaq latlh bang rap Dalaj.
>
> This seems a little confusing. "Perhaps you accept
> another's same lover."?
The proper way to interpret it is to use {bang} as an abstract noun,
modified by {rap}, in a noun-noun possessive with {latlh}: "similar love
of another" (OBTW, {rap} doesn't mean "the same", it means "similar";
there is a difference.)
Actually, in the original, the last line is a devastating put-down:
"maybe you'll be lucky enough to be loved in a similar way by another",
but Klingon lacks an adverb meaning "with any luck" (unless {Do'} can be
extended to this meaning), so I had to use the much less forceful {chaq}.
>> ghItlh //A. Pushkin//
>>
>> (I realize that {-e'} and {-eH} don't really rhyme, but what the hey.)
>
> We don't know that Klingons care if their poems rhyme.
We don't know anything about Klingon poetry; that's why I don't try to
write it. This is a Human poem, translated so Klingons could read it. Any
Klingon reading this would know
that it was alien; in fact, its alien sentiments and alien form would be
part of its attraction.
Is charghwI' the only person allowed to respond to requests for
critiques? Note that I did *not* post this to the KLBC. While I value
charghwI''s comments, I'd like to hear from others, as well.
> -ter'eS
>> charghwI'
- ter'eS
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