tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun May 21 21:09:37 1995
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Re: The `Ring Rhyme' in Klingon
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: The `Ring Rhyme' in Klingon
- Date: Mon, 22 May 95 05:09:33 BST
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> (message from Karl Dyson on Fri, 19 May 1995 15:20:19 -0400)
On Fri, 19 May 1995 15:20:19 -0400, Karl Dyson <[email protected]> said:
[replying to me]
>> > "Three rings for the elven kings under the sky"
>>
>> Isn't it `Elf-kings' rather than `Elven kings' in the original?
> My copy says "Elven-kings"
Yes, so does mine. Sorry about that.
> Be fair.. Okrand was hardly going to invent a word for Elfs..
Certainly not. The thing to do, then, is to borrow the English word,
given that the Klingons would be most likely to learn about the Elves
from English speaking Terrans and English literature. If you do so,
however, you should make it conform to Klingon phonology.
> I came accross the problem of no equivalent so I thought I'd make
> one up for the context of this passage..
But you didn't. *{jelv} is not a possible Klingon word.
>> > and used a compound noun with che'wI - Elevn rulers??
>>
>> That's {che'wI'}. Try making them `Elf-emperors'.
> Sorry.. missed of the ' eh!?!
Looks like it. Missing a {'} in Klingon is the same thing as missing
a {j} or a {tlh}.
>> Hm. {HeghnISbogh Humanpu' jubbe'vaD Hut}?
> Okay but I was trying to avoid saying that they 'needed'
> to die.. I'm sure they'd be prefectly happy not too :)
They would; they are not willing to die, but they must.
{Heghqangbe' 'a HeghnIS}.
> [...] 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..
There is not a single complete sentence in the Rhyme, so its translation
can't help you learn to put sentences together, although it does contain
a couple of challenging constructions (we'll probably need to hear Okrand's
verdict on relativisation before we can translate the last line with any
confidence; it contains a shared element which is a locative in both the
main and the subordinate clause).
> I don't think its too serious.
I thought it was serious enough to warrant a response.
> [...] you haven't made much of an effort to help me learn anything..
Quite right. I haven't.
> true its not your job but I was assuming that you would rather
> promote the language by helping people than consistantly critiscing
> mistakes!
It is not my job to promote the language. I am, however, willing
to help people by consistently criticising their mistakes.
--'Iwvan