tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 23 14:56:50 1995

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Re: An attempted Klingon Poem :-)



At 05:59 AM 12/23/95 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Greetings!
>
>I read the following bit of poetry in a ST novel (I think it was 
>"Klingon Gambit") and have tried to translate it for a poetry reading 
>coming up at our next Klingon meeting. Please understand I read this 
>novel in German, and first had to retranslate it into English
>so I could present it here!

I am sure most of the grammarians are on thier Xmas vacation
so I will take the liberty of making a comment.

I hope no one minds too much.

> 
>Quoted from the epic Ramenaa by Kahless:
>ramena' ghitlh qeylIS' 'ej DaH vImuchvam:
>
>(This is translated very loosely, as I do not have words for
>"epic" and "quote". There is no epic by the name of Ramenaa in
>ST canon, so I simply spelled it phonetically.)
>

......stuff deleted....

>But we will not give in.
>'ach majeghbe'. 

I would say <'ach majeghQo'>. The differece between <-be'> and 
<-Qo'> is the difference between negation and refusal. You are not 
merely saying that you don't surrender but that you REFUSE to do so.

>
>We will wear faces of fire.
>qul qabDu' matuQ. 

Prefix mix-up. <DItuQ> or perhaps <wItuQ>.

>
>(I used tuQ = to wear clothing on purpose. I *think* this is
>not taking poetic expression too far. Would qabDu' meq be a better
>way of putting " faces of fire"?)

I would accept the poetic licence here.

>
>
>
>As I won't be online for the next couple of days, just let me 
>wish you all a: 
>- Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
>- ein frohes Fest und guten Rutsch
>- tera'ngan yupma 'quv  DIS chu` Quch je.

On this last hail I would invoke the <-jaj> as in
<tera'ngan yupma'lIj vItIvjaj 'ej Quchjaj DISlIj chu'>

>
>
>        {{:-)
>
>        taj'IH

Till the grammarians get back thats my 2 cents.

david 
aka DaraQ

                       David Barron  [email protected] 
        Klingon Language Postal Course,   PO Box 37, Eagle ID 83616   
              It's FREE! Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.           
                     Not available by E-mail, so dont ask.



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