tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 17 00:19:34 1997
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: A sentance or two
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: A sentance or two
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 00:19:14 -0800
At 18:13 97-12-16 -0800, lawsonse26 wrote:
}
} I tried to translate a bit of "All Good Things..."
Qov winces. Translation of literary texts has a tendency to produce poor
Klingon, based on people inventing their own constructions in order to match
the way ideas are expressed in the source language. It is harder to
translate than to write from original ideas, and not recommended for a way
to learn the language. Better to work on one Klingon contruct at a time,
building ideas appropraite to the grammar and vocabulary instead of
searching for grammar and vocabulary that fit an alien idea.
When you translate you tend to hit a whole bunch of grammatical points. I
can't keep up to correct them all and it's too much for you to absorb at
once anyway.
} The origial was as follows:
}
} "Now you're catching on. For one split second, your mind was open
}to possibilities and ideas you'd never dreamt of. But it was only the
}beginning."
}
} I got the following
}
} yajchoH SoHDaH.
} (I just realized the first sentance should be DaH biyachoH)
} Now you begin to understand.
{DaH bIyajchoH.}
}DuHmey je qechmey jInajpy'Qo' poSpu' yablIj.
}To possibilities and ideas you did not
}dream opened your mind.
}(or Your mind opened to poss. and ideas you didn't
}dream of)
The conjunction joining nouns goes after all the nouns, not between them.
We have no evidence that {naj} can take an object. Every noun in a sentence
must be a subject, an object, a time marker, or have a suffix on it
indicating what else it is doing in the sentence. The perfective is not past
tense. An "open mind" is an English language idiom. Simple negation is
indicated with {-be'}. {-Qo'} denotes active refusal or an order not to do
something.
}I put DuHmey je qechmey jInajpy'Qo' first because it is the subject,
Re-read the beginning of chapter 6. Subjects follow verbs. Objects precede
them. Are you using {-py'} for perfective?
}then posSpu' (to be open-past)
There is no such tense as "open-past" in Klingon. There is no past tense.
{poS lojmIt} means "the door is open" "the door was open" or "the door will
be open." {poSpu' lojmIt} means "the door had been open" "the door has been
open" or "the door will have been open." {poStaH lojmIt} means "the door
was open" "the door is open" or "the door will be open." What's the
differnce? English doesn't have the difference. The Klingon difference is
that the open doors with {-taH} were open during some period of time, while
the other doors' period of openness isn't known.
}then yablIj (your mind).
}'ach net taghwI'e'.
}But that (the previous sentance) is the beginning, and only the
}beginning.
The sentence as object is a very special construction. Read section 6.2.5
carefully for all the details. The previous sentence is part of the
contruction, without a conjunction, and the previous sentence mut be the
OBJECT of the new sentence. {net} is a special case of the special case,
where the second sentence has no definite subject.
}As for the third sentance I had trouble getting beginning as a subject, so I
}used wI' to make that which begins which isn't very good and 'e' to give the
}"only" part of it.
{-'e'} is a noun suffix that emphasizes the noun. The phrase reads, if
anything, "but ... one ...that ... _the beginner_."
}Also in the re-translation I changed "was" to "is" because
}Klingon has no pasted tense so-to-speak.
Don't do that. Simply translate to the tense that English would use. Just
as if you were translating into Klingon you should put in the correct aspect
in Klingon, even though English doesn't have continuous aspects the way
Klingon does.
}I think that last sentance is the
}one that is the hardest (accept maybe the "For one split second" which I didn't
}even attempt)
Actually "for one split second" is probably the easiest part of that to
translate. Use the verb {qaS}, the type 9 verb suffix {-vIS} (read about it
first, to see what else it requires) and use a noun suffix to modify the
word for second to indicate that it is a variety of second less than a
normal second.
Look at the proverb about a running man cutting throats, in the appendix, to
see how this verb is used.
Here are some appropriate sentences for you to translate. They aren't
simplistic, and they use grammar from all over TKD, but they are
straightforward, so you can work on grammar and not get tangled up in
recasting before you know what grammatical tools are available to recast TO.
Fair enough?
The tribble scared the Ferengi.
We hate these stupid sentences.
I refuse to shame myself.
Because Qov is grouchy I am translating boring words.
Don't laugh!
I'm starting to hate these specimens.
That woman definitely likes this nonsense.
When I have improved my ability I am going to translate a really big book.
I will prove my honour, damnit.
Don't be foolish. I understand your reason.
I never wanted to drink that fuel.
The radiation is toxic.
While I translate this nonsense I am drinking blood.
Qov [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian