tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 05 04:34:37 1995
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Re: hello.
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: hello.
- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 07:35:09 -0500
I wrote:
>> And Star Trek novels are a poor choice of source material in any case.
Tim Browne writes:
>Even for a language written specifically for Star Trek? I find that hard
>to believe.
The language was written specifically for *Klingons*. It was not meant
to be an easy language to translate Star Trek stories into. It isn't a
"code" with simple correspondence between words, it's a complete language.
Marc Okrand intentionally made it unlike many common natural languages,
so often there are phrases that don't translate directly. One must have
a clear understanding of the MEANING of a phrase in order to translate it
intelligibly. The wording might be completely different in each language,
but the underlying meaning can be the same.
>> There aren't words for "egg" or "wheel" or "violin" or "curtain" either.
>
>And just how many times are those words used in Star Trek?
They've all been used -- just not by Klingons. I picked "curtain" because
it appears in the title of one of the episodes which featured a Klingon.
>> Exact words aren't that important. The IDEAS are important. What does
>> "logic" mean to you? If you couldn't use the word "logic", what would
>> you say instead?
>
>No idea. I've always used to word logic whenever I wanted to talk about
>logic.
Bzzzt! Wrong answer. :-) Think harder next time you want to use a word
that doesn't appear in the dictionary. Decide what you really mean when
you use that word. Is "logic" merely the rules of knowledge? Is it the
process by which ideas are tested? Is it the application of natural law
to observed events? Is it Boolean algebra? Figure out what the meaning
behind the words should be before you ask for help translating the words.
>> There are people who speak the language who are not Star Trek fans.
>
>I'll have to take your word for this one. It sounds kind of strange to
>me, though. After all, where would they have heard about the language if
>not from Star Trek?
Okay, let me rephrase. There are students of the Klingon Language who
are not Trekkies. Heck, there are TEACHERS of the Klingon Language who
are not Trekkies. The Interstellar Language School is headed by a guy
who reportedly doesn't even LIKE Star Trek much.
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj