tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 28 08:44:57 1994

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: sayings, and Klingon Translation Ideology

According to SuvwI' Ka' Rul:
> 
> > this case, "it" really means "today", so using "it" is rather
> > idomatic to English and we are not sure it works in Klingon.
> 
> > jIHeghmeH QaQ DaHjaj.
> > "For the purpose that I die, today is good."
> > 
> > charghwI'
> 
> Sorry, man, I gotta use my first post to disagree. Here's why.
> It seems to me that the concention is to back off from a decisive 
> translation, based on the concept that Klingon culture could convey such 
> a message or saying in an infinite number of ways, and we have no way to 
> guess.

At this point, I think we are both wrong. My use of {-meH} is
not standard, and while I've been slow to catch on to the point
~mark, our grammarian, has made to me about this, I trust that
he is right on this and I have been wrong.

As for YOUR point, I don't understand "concention". As for our
ability to guess how something would be said in Klingon, I
trust our ability to do that better than the script writer who
came up with "It is a good day to die." That person almost
certainly does not understand Klingon as well as even a medium
skilled person on this list.

> Well, here's my postulation to solve part of the problem. When a Klingon 
> translates a phrase and uses it in Fed Standard, he or she's not likely 
> to bend it to fit Feddies' ears..."we're" gonna say it just as it was 
> originally formed, as close to the original Klingon idiom (the Idiom 
> problem can work for us as well as against {{:>). So when Worf says "It 
> is a good day to die", I think we can assume the original Klingon is 
> pretty close to that.

Interesting concept, but I wouldn't seek to get much milage out
of it. I wince enough having to absorb some of the crud that
exists in Okrand-sourced canon. If we have to start thinking
that every pseudo-klingon phrase that every script writer for
the TV series comes up with is very near to the phrasing "in
the original Klingon", then why bother with a language with
real grammar and a real vocabulary? Why bother building any
skills with the use of this language. Just replace the English
words in the script with Klingon words and make things easy on
yourself.

Not!

> Besides, it would be a better phrase if "today" was the real subject, 
> rather than another day, or merely the time frame of the deed of dying.
> I think that's the essential gist of the idiom, that now's as good a time 
> as any, so fear me, baby {{:)
> am I making any sense?
> 
> 

I think I follow and agree with this point better than with the
rest of your argument. It definitely would convey to me, "I'm
ready to die. Are YOU?" Of course, one would expect that to be
a thing one would say to one's adversary, though in that
particular episode, they kept saying it to their comrads.

Anyway, I think it deserves a little more attention, since I'm
not really all that happy with what ~mark came up with so far
either. Nothing really clicks just yet and stands up and says,
"THIS HERE IS THE GENUINE ARTICLE". More than any other
version, however I have to say that expanding the word "it" to
work just like English does not feel good at all.

charghwI'

Back to archive top level