tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 03 11:29:11 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: tlhIngan Hol chu' ghojwI'. jIH ghaj pung.
- From: "Donald E. Vick" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: tlhIngan Hol chu' ghojwI'. jIH ghaj pung.
- Date: Tue, 3 Sep 1996 11:21:32 -0700 (PDT)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> from "Mitchell Ross" at Sep 3, 96 05:45:18 am
Well, this one wasn't flagged KLBC, and nobody has responded yet, so I'll
it a go.
> I decided to restore the comic to Klingon.
Not really a good way to start. Translation from english invariably
requires extensive recasting, which requires practice. IMHO, you ought to try
an original work in Hol first.
> M: What's your problem?
> M: nuq qay'lIj?
<qay'lIj> is gibberish. You have a noun suffix on a verb. Perhaps <nuq
qay'wI'lIj> or even simpler, <Duqay' nuq>, "What troubles you?" Recasting,
see?
> C: I'm a cat and you're a mouse. We're mortal enemies.
> C: "Cat" jIH. "Mouse" SoH. majaghqu'.
First two sentences are good, for future reference, the usual way to flag
an English word in a Klingon sentence is with *. i.e. <*cat* jIH>. The last is
more gibberish, you have a verb prefix, then a noun, then a noun suffix. This
sentence is going to need recasting. Perhaps, <jaghlI jIH 'ej jaghwI SoH>.
> M: I beg your pardon? I am a technically adept and binary fluent computer
> expert.
> M: QI'yah. jIpo' chamwI'.
Why is the mouse swearing at the cat? He isn't mad, just confused. How
about <nuqjatlh> instead? And watch your capitalization. The second sentence
is pretty wierd. Unless you're trying for apposition, that <chamwI'> is just
kinda floating free with nothing to do. You are apparently thinking in
English. Don't. Try, <po'bogh chamwI' jIH>. For the rest of the sentence,
how about making it <pogh De'wI' Hol po'chu'bogh chamwI' jIH>?
> M: You are merely a computer user, dependent on guys like me to
> perform even the simplest of functions.
> M: bIQIp De'pIn. De'Pin puj SoH. chowuvmeH QapHom.
Your first sentence is the same as the last one in the previous line. You
need something like, <QIpbogh De'pIn SoH>. And <De'pIn>? "Data boss"? This
has already been addressed of course. <De'wI' lo'wI' QIpwI' SoH>. The last
sentence is a mix-up. <QapHom> is a noun suffix on a verb. <chowuvmeH> means
"in order that you depend on me". Perhaps, <QapmeH chowuv>. A better way
might be, <napbejwI' Data'meH chowuv>.
> C: Like I said, we're mortal enemies.
> C: HIja'. majaghpu'.
<HIja'> works here, but i would go for <'e' qaja'>. As for <majaghpu'>,
see above.
> At first I wanted to do "cat" as "Qat" and mouse as "mo'S", but I
> hear that English may be a better choice here.
Good call. That's a common newbie mistake that you managed to skip. majQa'.
A little raw, but you just need practice. Welcome to the language, and
<bIDo'bejjaj>.
Qapla'
taDI'oS vIq, law'wI'pu'vaD Holtej jIH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Thaddaeus A. Vick, Linguist to the Masses | mailto: [email protected] -or- |
| | [email protected] |
| gules, on a saltire argent voided azure, | |
| thirteen mullets of the second. Yeeha. | http://www.crl.com/~dvick |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------