tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 26 19:04:38 1997
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Re: 'etlh 'oH yIn'e'
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: 'etlh 'oH yIn'e'
- Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 22:05:04 -0400 ()
- Priority: NORMAL
charghwI'vo':
Since this doesn't have KLBC on it, I'm taking the liberty of
leaping in.
On Mon, 26 May 1997 07:51:39 -0700 (PDT) [email protected]
wrote:
> I heard a klingon song called 'etlh 'oH yIn'e', and am having some trouble
> translating it. If someone could give me some help, I would be grateful. Oh,
> and if you send me a translation, please allow for klingon grammar. I can use
> the online TKD to get the words, but I have a problem with grammar. The song
> is as follows:
>
> tlhIngan maH 'ej maHemqu' (I translated this line: We are klingons and we are
> very proud)
Fine.
> cheSuvchugh vaj rejaychu' (I cannot translate most of these other lines)
{rejaychu'} should be {rejeychu'}. That would make it, "If you
(plural) fight us, then we will perfectly defeat you (plural).
> jagh DaneHchugh naSbej maH
They bent the grammar here, since {naSbej maH} should obviously
be {manaSbej}, but that throws off the rhythm and rhyme (which
is why I HATE editing poetry). "If you want an enemy, we are
definitely vicious."
> jup DaneHcugh mamatlhtaH
You misspelled {DaneHchugh}. "If you want a friend, then we are
continuously loyal." [How "we" can be one friend, I'll leave up
to your imagination.]
> yIyajHa'Qo' yIn wImaS
"Don't misunderstand. We prefer life." [They apparently don't
want to punctuate.]
> 'ach maHeghchugh 'ej manaS,
[except for this comma] "But if we die and we are vicious,"
> ghe' 'orDaq qa'maj ghoSQo'
There should be no blank space between those two glottal stops.
{ghe''orDaq} is one word. It means "to the netherworld, where
the dishonored go". The overall sentence has a scrambled word
order. Literally, as it now is arranged, it means something
like, "He/she/it refuses to approach our spirit(s) in the
netherworld, where the dishonored go." Combined with the
previous line, it gets even stranger. "If we die and we are
vicious, he refuses to approach our spirits in the netherworld,
where the dishonored go." I think someone basically blew this
line comletely, probably intending to say something about our
spirits not going to the netherworld. Poetic license does not
heal this particular wound, however.
> nom QI'tu' DunDaq nuvo'
"He/she/it/they quickly propel(s) us to wonderful Paradise."
> batlh mayInDI' yIn chenlu'
This has a grammatical problem as well. {chen} is definitely
intransitive in all canon examples, requiring {chenmoHlu'} or
better yet, change the word order to {chen yIn} for the meaning
apparently intended here. If we let that slide, you get, "When
we live honorably, life is formed.
> 'ej
> batlh maHeghDI' yIn taHchu'
Similar grammatical problem here. {yIn taHchu'} should be
{taHchu' yIn}. "And when we die honorably, life continues
perfectly."
> baS 'oH yIn'e' mayInDI'
"When we live, life is metal."
> 'etlh moj yIn batlh maHeghDI'
"When we die honorably, life becomes a sword."
> baS oH yIn'e' mayInDI'
> 'etlh moj yIn batlh maHeghDI'
Repeat.
I like the meaning of the song. I can see Klingons proudly
singing it, though it has all the grammatical perfection of
"Ain't got no time to catch a fast train..." I suspect it is a
good song to sing after your third Romulan ale...
> thanks,
> [email protected]
charghwI'