tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 31 17:44:38 1997
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Question on With and Without
On Fri, 31 Jan 1997, Perry J. Brulotte wrote:
|Let's say I want to say something like:
|"I will go with you." (I know >majaH< but is there a way to get the
|"with" part better.) or "Don't leave without me." (HImejQo'. I can't
|come up with one that works here.)
|
|How do I express with and without in Klingon? I've either been missing
|something or there is no clear-cut way to express the "with" concept in
|Klingon.
The problem is, there isn't just ONE "with" concept in English.
In this case, you can use {tlhej} "accompany" ({tay'} "be together" and
{Dor} "to escort" also work). Okrand uses {HItlhej} "Come with me!" (lit.
"Accompany me!") in ST6, CK, PK, and RT. I think I've even heard it a
couple times in episodes of TNG. And in TKW we have this tlhIngan
vIttlhegh:
bIQongtaHvIS nItlhejchugh targhmey bIvemDI' nItlhej ghIlab ghewmey.
If you sleep with targs, you'll wake up with glob flies.
(literally: "If targs accompany you while you sleep, glob flies will
accompany you when you wake up.") So what you want to say is: {qatlhej} "I
will go with you."
The instrumental use of "with" (another common "with" concept in English)
can, of course, be handled with {lo'taHvIS}:
DaqtaghDaj lo'taHvIS maghwI' vIHoHpu'.
I killed the traitor with his own d'k tahg.
As for "Don't leave without me!" you can say {HIlonQo'} ("Don't abandon
me!"). For example in TKW we have:
may'Daq jaHDI' SuvwI' juppu'Daj lonbe'.
When a warrior goes to a battle, he does not abandon his friends.
Here, {lon} can also be translated "leave behind" since his friends fully
intend to come back with tales of glory (though in combat you can never be
certain). And there's still the option of {mej}:
bImejDI' reH betleHlIj yItlhap.
Never leave without your bat'leth. TKW
Figure out what the phrase you're trying to translate actually means. The
*ideas* are what is important, not the individual words. It helps me to
substitute a few synonyms just to see if it really changes the basic
meaning. If it doesn't, then the word you're stuck on probably isn't all
that crucial. A thesaurus helps to suggest alternatives. Many word
processors have one built in which is usually good enough for this. Another
method I use is to translate the phrase into a few other languages to see
how they handle the concept. One of these versions may then suggest an
appropriate Klingon approach.
Try to stop thinking in English. (I know, easier said than done!)
-- Voragh