tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 31 20:05:02 1997

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RE: KLBC: Quotes and Star Wars and more...



January 31, 1997 6:32 PM EST, jatlh Perry J. Brulotte:

> qaSovbe'. 'ach SoH... not qab vIlIj... loD... *Checkov*.
> [I don't know you. But you... I never forget a face... Mr... Checkov.] 
> >From ST2.

I wouldn't use {loD} for "Mister."  Essentially, it's saying "man Checkov."  
There's a Klingon word, {qaH}, which means "sir."

not qab vIlIj . . . *Checkov* qaH.

> DaH, SuvwI' Qup, bIHegh.
> [Now, young Jedi, you will die.]

Heh . . . "Jedi" is probably a proper noun, and would not be translated.  
{DaH, *Jedi* Qup, bIHegh}.

Still, the sentence is fine.

> lotlhwI' lam SoH!
> [You rebel scum!]

Literally, this is correct.  I wonder if the Klingons would consider {lam} an 
insult?  Especially when {butlh} is so admired.  Maybe this would be a good 
time to break out one of those elusive epithets:

lotlhwI' yIntagh!

I didn't feel the need to include the "you" in there, as the Klingon would 
read "You are a rebel {yIntagh}," which is grammatically fine, but doesn't 
parallel the clipped version in the English.

> nuqDaq pegh nabmey 'e' DanIHpu'?
> [Where are the secret plans you have stolen?]

Wrong "that."  What you want is the "which" in "which you have stolen."  This 
is done with a relative clause, using {-bogh}.

nuqDaq nabmey pegh DanIHta'bogh tu'lu'?

I used {pegh} as an adjectival verb here, although it still could be used as a 
noun (there's {pegh De'vetlh} "That is classified information" in CK, and {De' 
pegh vIghaj} "I have secret information" in PK, to show that {pegh} also means 
"be secret").  I think it works better this way.  I also used {tu'lu'} to 
indicate "there are secret plans."

And don't you think {-ta'} would be better than {-pu'}?  They were stolen 
intentionally, after all.  (And one might consider using {bonIHta'bogh} 
instead of {DanIHta'bogh}.  I doubt Leia stole the plans all by herself.)

> SuvwI''a' vISam.
> [I'm looking for a great warrior.]

If he hasn't found him yet, {Sam} is inappropriate.  It means "seek and 
locate."  Use {nej}.

SuvwI''a' vInejlI'.

> nuqDaq 'oH lotlhwI' waw''e'?
> [Where is the rebel base?]

maj.

> tugh *Star Wars* vIleghqa' vIneH.

vIbejnISbe', 'ach choHmey vIngu' vIneH.  *Star Wars* vIparHa', 'ach Huch neH 
neHba' Lucas.  DubnISbe', 'ach 'oH DIlqanglaw' Hoch.  wejpuH.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97087.4


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