tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 12 17:18:56 1996

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RE: KLBC:Quotes

jatlh jevqu' De'Hal:

>  I have taken some quotes and attemped to translate them.  I'm curious if 
>  I am close to being accurate or if I'm far off.

Sure!  Just be careful: it's spelled {tlhIngan}, not *{tlhIngon}.

>  English-         You saw his weakness, and he will never forgive you
>  tlhIngon Hol-    puj Dalegh 'ej DulIjQo'
>  back to English- You see him be weak and he won't forget you

Not bad!  To say "You saw that he is weak," you need to use the pronoun {'e'} 
(see TKD pp.65-67).  {puj 'e' Dalegh}.

Of course, being weak is different than having a specific weakness.  Achilles 
had a weakness, but he was certainly not weak.  In this case, you don't just 
"see" that he has a weakness, you "notice" or "observe" it {tu'}.  For 
example,

puj "Achilles" qam Dung 'e' Datu'
You noticed that Achilles' ankle was weak.

If you don't want to specify, you could still talk about this.  Think of the 
word {pujwI'}.  It means "thing which is weak."  In the right context, it 
could mean "weakness."  So, your original sentence, "You saw his weakness," 
can be rendered

pujwI'Daj Datu'

or 

pujwI'Daj Dalegh

Another possibility for "weakness" is {Daq puj} "weak location."


{DulIjQo'} is not "he will not forget you," it's "he refuses to forget you."  
If you want the former, you need to simply negate the verb: {DulIjbe'}.  
Remember that there is no tense in Klingon.  Thus, this word could also mean 
"he did not forget you."

Again, you have chosen a phrase which does not quite match what you started 
with.  Forgiving is a bit different than forgetting.  Still, the lack of a 
word "forgive" in TKD seems annoying, if understandable.  But what is he not 
forgiving?  "You"?  For what?  Here's a suggestion using {lIj}:

pujwI'Daj Datu' 'e' lIjbe'
He will not forget that you found his weakness.

You could also write

pujwI'Daj Datu'.  ngoD lIjbe'.
You found his weakness.  He will not forget this fact.

>  English-         Force is not a remedy
>  tlhIngon Hol-    raD vorbe'
>  back to English- Cure is not force
>  
>  Can I use a verb as a noun or do I have to work around that?

No, you can't (except under weird and complicated circumstances, see {-ghach} 
on TKD p. 167, HolQeD 3:3, and HolQeD 3:4).  Usually, you don't need to.  
While English uses lots of nouns, Klingon uses mostly verbs.  If you recast 
your sentences using verbs, you'll find it easier to find the correct way to 
say it in Klingon.

First, you need to know how to say *noun1* is *noun2* in Klingon.  See TKD pp. 
67-68.  Essentially, to say "the man is an officer," for example, one would 
say

yaS ghaH loD'e'.

But I won't go deeply into that now, because your sentence "Force is not a 
rememdy" isn't going to need it.  Let's rearrange it using verbs.

"If one acts forcefully, one does not cure."
pe'vIl vanglu'chugh, vorbe'lu'.

(Some may prefer a less idiomatic version of this, since "cure" may refer only 
to curing a sickness of some sort.  If you do, just substitute {lughmoH} for 
{vorbe'}.)

Do you see what I've done?  Without changing the correct meanings and parts of 
speech of the words, I've found a way to make them fit together to mean what 
you're trying to say.

>  English-         That which does not kill us, makes us stronger
>  tlhIngon Hol-    HoSwI' SuchenmeH SuHoHboghQo'
>  back to English- You which don't kill for the purpose of building you 
>  		 stronger

I'm afraid I can't follow your Klingon or your English back-translation.  I 
swear I've seen this before, but I don't remember where, so forgive me if I 
come out with a different translation . . .

Anyway, let's recast this sentence too, with emphasis on verbs.

"If something does not kill us, it increases our strength."
nuHoHbe'chugh vay', HoSmaj ghurmoH 'oH.

Follow that?  Let me know if you have a problem with it . . .

SuStel
Stardate 96867.9

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