tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 04 16:02:37 1997

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Re: Analysis of new Skybox cards (with a foray into subatomic ph



lab Qob
& Robyn Stewart wrote:
& > lab Qob:
& > & {beyHom bey bey'a' jachtaH latlh tlhInganpu'.}
& > & "The other Klingons cry out small howls, howls, great howls." 
& > & This is mega-weird.
& > 
& > Sure, just as there ought to be an 'and' in the English.
& > Writing in any language often breaks the rules, and if it's clear, the 
& > writer gets away with it.
&
& The thing is, it *isn't* clear (at least to me) without the English
& translation. It may be blasphemy, but this looks like a "hindsight"
& word (well, hindsight noun phrase).

Hmmm, well when I read it I was waiting for a verb <bey> to go with 
the noun, so first I saw a major howl howling a little howl, but as 
soon as I hit jachtaH, that had to be the main verb, so I backed up 
and made all three beymey into nouns. I think it's just the 
unfamiliarity of the word that gives you pause.  Try the same 
construction with words you know well:

tengchaH vI'elDI' ghom'a' vIlegh.  qevchuq tlhInganpu' vulqanganpu' 
verenganpu' tera'nganpu' ... nImbuS wej rur!

(Yeah, yeah ... try it with words *you* know well, how should I know 
what they are?) The elipsis is unnecessary, but the construction does 
imply a continuity, that there are more than actually listed, that 
the full range with the je on the end has been elided. I think it 
very appropriate for the howls and if it makes me pause to get the 
meaning, all the better. (Sudden attack of giggles: I sound exactly 
like Guido explaining wa/wa'.  Maybe I'm as full of it. jIjatlh 
DaH 'e' vImevlI'.)

& > On the other hand, I'd like it 'ul to mean electron, just because I
& > want the word. :)
&
& Only if he gives us enough other elemtary particles so we can 
& discuss subatomic particle physics! (I dare him to give us 
& "intermediary vector boson" or words for all the flavors of quarks!)

Hap 'ay'Hommey vIqellaH vIneH 'ach 'utbe' Hoch'e' 'ay'Hommeyvetlh. 
<'otlh> wIghaj.  DaH loQ vIDellaH. Hap 'ay'Hom botlhDaq cha' Segh 
lutu'lu'. Huj wa' Segh.  Hujbe' latlh.  botlh bav yu'egh rurbogh 
'ay''e'. (pagh 'ay' rurbogh yu'egh'e') .... and at this point I start 
waving my hands an mumbling 'proabability distribution' and 'sp3 
hybridiztion' . oh bah.

My husband has discovered he can torment me by telling me to 
translate things like:  "The picture of the table is on the wall 
by the window." 

Heeey. Here's what we have to do: get a KLI member onto the team that 
does the English text for the Skybox cards.

 - Qov


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