tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 01 15:50:50 1995

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

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

Re: KLBC: some sentences

>Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 02:43:08 -0500
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: tsai kat clio-international <[email protected]>

>1.  malob tlhIngan 'ej maHegh tlhIngan
>    voDleHvaD 'e' yIja'

>   ("Tell the Emperor that we Klingons obey and die."  Adapted from
>Simonides.)

This is tricky, in that it involves nouns in apposition (sort of) which are
not entirely understood (tho commonly accepted).  "maHegh tlhIngan" sounds
funny to me.  I sort of expect to hear the "maH" explicitly.  Maybe
something like "maHegh maH; tlhInganpu'" (dunno why I seem to want the
plural marker here).  

>2.  maHagh
>    maSuv
>    maHegh
>    qatlh
>    maSovbe'

>   (An attempt to render the Greek epigram, "Nothing but laughter,
>    nothing but dust, nothing but nothing--no reason why it happens,"
>    by Glykon, English translation by K. Rexroth.)

"We laugh, we fight, we die, why? we don't know".  Hrm.  Maybe "meq
wISovbe'" would be better than "qatlh".  For "nothing but", consider using
the "neH" adverbial.

>3.  (The following sentences are attempts to render "A pox on both
>    your houses.")

>    Su Heghjaj      ("May you and he die.")

Eeyuck.  No.  There's no such word as "Su".  It's a prefix, not a word.
You could certainly say "bIHeghjaj 'ej Heghjaj ghaH"... I don't find
repeating the verb at all cumbersome or unnatural.  In a language as
verb-centric as Klingon, I'd expect it a great deal.  I'd also accept
"SuHeghjaj SoH/tlhIH ghaH je."

>4.  "The code that can be deciphered is not a useful code."

>   (I have found quite a few problems in trying to translate this
>    sentence. I would like to see the Grammarian's solution.)

Um... I don't know of a good word for "code" offhand, and I get the feeling
that coining one would probably not be worth it.  I think you'd want to go
back to the real tenor or the metaphor.  Something like "Information so
secret NOBODY can use it isn't much use."

peghmo' De' 'oH leghlaHchugh pagh'e', lI'be' De'.

Maybe?

~mark

Back to archive top level