tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 16 07:20:31 1996
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Re: New Method for Superlative?
>Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 05:41:50 -0700
>From: "Garrett Michael Hayes" <[email protected]>
>On page 101 Okrand writes <'etlh QorghHa'lu'chugh ragh 'etlh nIvqu'
>'ej jejHa'choH>, which he translates as "Even the best blade will
>rust and grow dull unless it is cared for."
>And on page 121 he writes <bortaS nIvqu' bortaS'e'>, which he
>translates as "Revenge is the best revenge".
>In both cases, the verb <nIv> with the emphatic suffix <qu'> appears
>to serve the adjectival function of the english word "best".
>Do we have a new mechanism for expressing superlatives?
Not a conclusion I'd draw. Note that in both cases replacing "best" with
"extremely superior" (the "simple" meaning of "nIvqu'") yields an aphorism
that means pretty much the same thing. Obviously Okrand's proverbs aren't
translated word-for-word; word-for-word translations are rarely sensible.
It sounds like he's translating the Klingon into the idiomatic way English
prefers "best" to "excellent" in proverbs of this sort.
~mark