tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri May 19 18:44:02 1995
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Re: The `Ring Rhyme' in Klingon
On Fri, 19 May 1995, Karl Dyson wrote:
> > (1) {jelv} is not Klingon; {-lv} is not a permissible final.
> > (2) Inventing words ought to be a capital crime. Non-Klingon
> > words used in Klingon text (whether they have been made to fit
> > Klingon phonology or no) should be marked by asterisks or underscores.
> Be fair.. Okrand was hardly going to invent a word for Elfs..
> I came accross the problem of no equivalent so I thought I'd make one up for
> the context of this passage.. it was a just a little fun and since The Lord
> of The Rings doesn't mix with Trek.. I didn't think it would do any harm.
...
> .. you've mainly criticised me for making up words and rightly so.. but
> since the intention of the translation was to help me learn to put
> scentances together.. I don't think its too serious.
The problem isn't that you were making up words. If you are going to try
to say "elf" and want it to sound Klingon you're going to have to make up
words. You should be warned, however, that it is custom to mark such
words. If you don't mark them, everyone will rush to their dictionaries
(and other resources). It can be very disappointing to spend a lot of
time looking for something that doesn't exist. Please, just mark them to
let us know. That's all we're asking.
> > You're overdoing your English here. :-) Don't call Men `Terrans';
> > Elves and Dwarves are Terrans too. {Human} would be better.
> Well, I forgot that Human would be in TKD.. so sue me! But you are right
> about Elves and Dwarves.. I didn't think about that.
I can see where you felt picked on with the response you got. It takes a
while to get used to the style of response used here. But look again at
this comment. It is just the kind of teaching you were asking for.
Someone realised that you did not know about the word {Human} and so
pointed out that it was a better word than the one you used.
If you can learn to just ignore the "typical" Klingon rudeness an dig a
little deeper, you will find some wonderful gems of knowledge.
janSIy