tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 15 05:03:36 1995

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Re: haiku




> > jIyajchu'be'.  nuq 'oH *Doq*'e'?  (mu'tlhegh cha').  'ej, *yay'* 
> > *jIH* je DaHechbej.
> > 
> > Qaghmey mach DalIjlaH; ram.  potlh nuq?  bIghItlh!  bImughtaHbe'!  
> > qechmeylIj DaghItlhmo' bIDubbej 'ej Daghojbej.  'ej mu'mey DaghItlhbogh 
> > vIlaD 'e' vItIvqu'.  yIghItlhtaH!
> > 
> > --Holtej
> > 
> Dayajchu'be'mo' jIQoS, 'ach *Hayku'*'e'!  

"I'm sorry you don't understand, but Haiku!"  If you want "but it's 
Haiku" you'd need /'ach *Haiku* 'oH/.  Little matter of a verb.

> Yes, it is my own ghitlh.  I would not mu'nIH, 

I could see that; I was complimenting you on this effort.  Too often we 
see folks coming around trying to translate Dickens or Byron or 
something, and they never learn anything, get frustrated (while we get 
frustrated trying to understand their work), and they quietly disappear.  
Never often enough do we see folks working to put their own words, their 
own thoughts, in the warrior's tongue.  This is the path to honor and 
success.  It is this struggle which will give you a better understanding 
of, appreciation for, and skill with the language.

> > Doqbogh nIjtaH Iw'.  Dunbej. 

> I thought (perhaps wrongly) that relative clauses like Doqbogh had to 
> come first in the sentence.  That's why it's there, but it refers to 
> the blood.

First of all, relative clauses (TKD 6.2.3) act as nouns in the sentence, 
so go either before or after the verb, depending on its role.  My comment 
above was actually not about that; I was confused by /Doq/, which, 
because of a momentary lapse of sanity, I couldn't remember.  But still, 
I'm not at all sure what your line is supposed to mean.  If /'Iw/ is the 
head of /Doqbogh/, then it can't have that intervening verb.  /nIjtaH 
'Iw/ is a sentence "blood continuously leaks", and the /Doqbogh/ is just 
hanging out there with nothing to do.  You could say /nIjtaH 'Iw Doq/ or 
/nIjtaH Doqbogh 'Iw/, for "the red blood leaks" or "the blood which is 
red leaks."

> 'ItHa' jIH  is supposed to convey an idea like "My depression has 
> lifted."  If it's way off or totally ungrammatical I'll try to change 
> it, but as long as it's close and passable taking into account poetic 
> licence I'd like to leave it.

It conveys this perfectly; but you had */jiH/, not /jIH/.  *jIH* 
DaHechbej.

> The last word is yay -- victory  not yay' -- be shocked!  

Again, a lapse on my part.  Such a wonderful mneumonic, too!

> Also in your sentence "'ej, *yay'* *jIH* je DaHechbej."  shouldn't it 
> be DaHechbej'a' with the interrogative particle?

Surely you mean that you don't understand my sentence.  mu'tlheghwIj 
Dayajbe' DaHechbej.  My intent was to question, but that doesn't lock me 
into an /-'a'/ construction.  We can be more creative with the language 
than that, can't we?  Certainly we can be more creative with the language.

> Qapla'

bIghItlhtaHjaj! 

> Qogh.

--Holtej




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