tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 09 01:38:37 1996

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Re: Verbs as Objects

Thanks for the constructive comments on the translation attempt. It 
has given me much thought.

Bear in mind that, in a warrior culture such as that of the Klingons, 
not even Gowron can be seen to be afraid of death. A lucky shot from 
the DS9 station, in the climactic battle of "Way of The Warrior," 
could have penetrated the shields of his flagship at a weak spot 
and it would have been "GAME OVER - INSERT COIN" for Gowron.

I do not see any ambiguity in the phrase. Someone who believes enough 
in a cause to make the ultimate sacrifice for it implies himself as 
the one ready to die. Witness Kang's use of the phrase in DS9 Season 
2's "Blood Oath," and before that, Worf's use of the phrase during 
TNG Season 3's "Sins of the Father" (and, also, the Native American 
in that movie "I shall fight no more forever, as mentioned in your 
email reply).

It could also, admittedly, be used as a taunt to those whom the 
Klingon believes are unworthy, and probably afraid to kill and die 
(such as Duras in "Sins of the Father," who it turned out was not 
afraid to hire assassins to do the job for him); but in every case
when the phrase was used, in English or Klingon, all I could see
was a looming battle which promised to be, and later proved to be, 
glorious; a battle in which nothing was certain, not even that the 
heroes' lives were guaranteed.

As to the translation I offered, bear in mind that the use of -meH as 
a suffix converts that entire verb structure into a purpose clause, 
which can be considered a separate sentence in itself. I would think 
that, in that case, the only modification necessary to this would be 
the replacement of <net> with <'e' >, thus;

                                            HeghmeH QaQ jaj'e'

However, I offer this only out of academic interest, because 
doubtless the form of the phrase used by Gowron in "The Way of The 
Warrior" is the proper, ritualised form, following the special 
grammatical rules used for toasts, taunts and Replacement Proverbs.


Catch you later.

Alexander T Greene
******************************
"Remember; nothing is certain, except uncertainty. And I'm not even certain about that."
email me on [email protected]. Just call me Lord Sinister

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