tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 31 11:57:09 1996

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Re: An offer you shouldn't refuse!



qaSDI' 96-07-30 02:38:32 EDT, jatlh dave yeung:

> I myself have used {tlhIngan HolDaq...} for "In Klingon...", but now that 
>  I think about it, the Klingon {-Daq} isn't really the same as the English 
>  "in".  Can you say:
>  
>  {ghaH vIHar}      I believe him
>  {?ghaHDaq jIHar}   I believe IN him
>  
>  {tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh}     I speak Klingon
>  {tlhIngan HolDaq jIjatlh}  I speak IN Klingon

Most emphatically NO!  {-Daq} refers to a physical location, a place one
might be able to point to.  Don't try to translate word-for-word from
English.  Speaking "in" Klingon does not mean you are speaking inside
something.  It means you are making use of Klingon in order to speak.

For your examples, {ghaH vIHar} is good for "I believe him."  However, "I
believe IN him" is more like saying "I have faith in him," or "I trust him,"
which could be rendered {ghaH vIvoq}.  (Unless you mean "I believe IN Santa
Claus," in which case you've got to find a different way to say it.)

"I speak Klingon" is {tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh}, but "I speak IN Klingon" means
what I said above, and might be rendered {jIjatlhtaHvIS, tlhIngan Hol vIlo'}.

Whatever you do, don't use {-Daq} just because an English translation uses
the word "in."

SuStel
Stardate 96580.0


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