tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 19 19:03:12 1995
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klingonische Woerter
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: klingonische Woerter
- Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 21:58:44 -0500
>Subject: Re: law'/puS
>Date: 95-01-19 04:59:50 EST
>From: [email protected] (Marc Ruehlaender)
>> Note that in the addendum, jatlh is also listed as "say". I
>> would interpret your sentence to mean:
>>
>> Say, "the passing ship".
>>
>> In other words, I am giving you a direct quote which I want you
>> to repeat after me. It might be that you mean speak TO the
>> passing ship, but there are clearer ways to express that.
>>
>That's exactly my point: I DONT want to say "speak TO the
>passing ship". My dictionary lists the above use of "speak"
>as a nautical expression for "exchanging information by
>waving flags etc."
That is quite a figurative use of "speak." You can't expect people to just
know that you're talking about using Flag Code between two ships passing on
the sea with just the verb, "speak," without proper context.
If you want to say, "Speak to the passing ship," it would be best as
{juStaHbogh DujvaD yIjatlh}. For, "Say, 'the passing ship,'" I would suggest
{"juStaHbogh Duj," yIjatlh}. It's very simple, especially with context. Btw,
those " " are not canon. We have no canon punctuation.
>But in general, how close can I take the coincidence of
>Klingon words with a given translation? Can I use most verbs
>in any sense one could use the English ?
Don't stretch things too far. You can't think that you can use a Klingon word
in *any* sense that its given English equivalent is used in. For example, the
word {pong} is given as "call, name," in TKD. It would be much more sensible
to think of {pong} as having the meaning where these two words overlap
semantically, and not the meaning of all senses of both these words put
together.
In other words, in German (which appears to be your first language) the
English "call" can be translated by, {nennen}, {rufen}, or {telefonieren}
*depending on context.* Now, it would seem ridiculous that {pong} has all
these meanings, wouldn't it? It would make more sense to think of it as just
{nennen}, because it is cross-referenced in TKD by the English verb "name."
It requires the use a little common sense. Mostly words will be used in one
sense, and not deviate too much from there.
>jImISqu'
qamISHa'moHjaj.
> Marc 'Doychlangan'
Guido