tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 22 07:47:19 1994

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KBTP: Psalm 23



I did this a while back, might as well post it.  It still could stand some
fine-tuning.

Warning: In case you didn't catch the subject, this is a Bible translation
piece.  If that pushes buttons in you you'd rather not have pushed, or just
bores you to tears, you've been warned.

This is Psalm 23, the old "The Lord is my Shepherd" business. Comments
follow.

DavID SoQ:
QorghwI'wI' ghaH joH'a''e'
jIHvaD Dach pagh
tI yotlhmeyDaq muQotmoH
vIHbe'bogh bIQDaq muDev
qa'wI' chegh
pongDajmo' ruv HemeyDaq mulengmoH
Hegh QIb ngechDaq jIlengtaHvIS je
mIghwI' vIHajbe'
qatlhejmo'.
mutungHa' naQlIj'e' (...?).
SaHtaHvIS jaghpu'wI' jIHvaD SopDaq Dacher
nachwIjDaq pIvmoHbogh taS DangoH
ngaSqu' HIvje'wIj.
mutlha'bej QaQwI' pung je
qaStaHvIS yInwIj jaj Hoch,
'ej joH'a' juHDaq jIyIn qaStaHvIS jaj law'.

================
OK, one big prob, the one that stands out, is that there's only one word
for "rod" and "staff", so I can't do "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me."  I guess I have to stick with just "Thy rod, it comforts me".

"vIHbe'bogh bIQ" was the best I could do for "still waters" (or better
"waters of rest").  Maybe "leSbogh bIQ"?  Too much personification,
perhaps.  "ruv Hemey" is actually quite good for "ma`aglei tzedeq"; the
word usually translated here as "righteousness" also means stuff about
"justice" (though it shares a root with "charity")

I opted for "qa'wI' chegh" for "nafshi y'shovev"; the Hebrew is mucho
obscure.

No word for "even", so I stuck with "je" at the right place.  Went with the
"valley of the shadow of death" translation for "gei tzalmavet"; it's
another strange line.  For "evil" I avoided "?mIghghach" and went with
"mIghwI'" for "evil thing(s)".  Instead of "comfort" I had "encourage";
close enough.

Instead of "opposite my enemies" or anything like that with "-Daq", I
thought the meaning waould be better expressed with "in the presence of my
enemies" (as many English Bibles do), so I went with SaHtaHvIS.  Coined
"SopDaq" for table, on the model of "QongDaq" which we have for "bed".  I
know it's a verb-noun compound, but it works for me.  I probably shouldn't
tho.

"You freshen my head with oil".  Ouch.  No word for "oil", etc... Well,
it's annointing, right, so we can use "ngoH"/smear... "oil" can be a
healthifying solution: pIvmoHbogh taS.  OK, it's reaching.

I'm rather proud of "ngaSqu' HIvje'wIj", though I'm not sure why.  It's not
too literal, but it *sounds* good for some reason.  Does *anyone* else
think it makes any sense whatsoever for "my cup runneth over"?

Again. QaQwI' for "good(ness)", or rather "good thing(s)".  So-so.  May be
overusing "qaStaHvIS" the last two lines, but not really.  My argument
about how -taHvIS doesn't imply that it's *continuous* applies here, but I
think pragmatics works fine to handle it all.

Anyway, whataya think?  Oh, for laughs, the guy that asked me to do this
wanted an interlinear translation too.  Here it is:

DavID SoQ:
                David['s] speech:

QorghwI'wI' ghaH joH'a''e'
                caretaker-my he[-is] great-lord

jIHvaD Dach pagh
                for-me [it-]lacks nothing

tI yotlhmeyDaq muQotmoH
                vegetation fields-at [he-]makes[-me]-lie

vIHbe'bogh bIQDaq muDev
                move-not-which water-at [he-]leads[-me]

qa'wI' chegh
                my-spirit [he-]returns[-it]

pongDajmo' Hemey ruvDaq mulengmoH
                name-his-because justice['s] courses [he-]makes[-me]-travel

Hegh QIb ngechDaq jIlengtaHvIS je
                death['s] shadow['s] valley-at [I-]travel-while also

mIghwI' vIHajbe'
                that-which-is-evil [I-]dread-not[-it]

qatlhejmo'.
                [you-]accompany[-me]-because.

mutungHa' naQlIj'e' (...?).
        [it/they-]encourage[-me] staff-your-(topic)

SaHtaHvIS jaghpu'wI' jIHvaD SopDaq Dacher
        [they-]are-present-while enemies-my I-for eat-place
[you]establish[-it]

nachwIjDaq pIvmoHbogh taS DangoH
        head-my-at healthy-make-which solution [you-]smear[-it]

ngaSqu' HIvje'wIj.
        [it-]contains-emphatic glass-my.

mutlha'bej QaQwI' pung je
        [they-]follow[-me]-definitely that-which-is-good mercy and

qaStaHvIS yInwIj jaj Hoch,
        [they-]occur-while life-mine day[s] all,

'ej joH'a' juHDaq jIyIn qaStaHvIS jaj law'.
        and great-lord['s] home-at [I-]live [they-]occur-while day[s] many.

Have fun!  PLEASE comment.

~mark



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