tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 13 21:38:23 1997

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Re: KLBC: Requiem - Recordare/Confutatis/Lacrimosa



On Sun, 12 Oct 1997 20:53:34 -0700 (PDT)  Alan Anderson 
<[email protected]> wrote:

> ja'pu' Edy:
> >The idea is "You have not accomplished dying for nobody/nothing/in blank."
> >There was a propose in his death as a previous sentence said. Then, the
> > best translation is: {paghbaD bIHeghta'be'}
> 
> ja' charghwI':
> >I REALLY don't like this. It sounds to me very much like you
> >tried to die for nothing and you failed. It sounds VERY
> >insulting, which is the opposite of what you want.
> 
> But remember the holiday proverb from PK:
> {Hoch DaSopbe'chugh batlh bIHeghbe'}
> "Eat everything or you will die without honor."
> 
> According to this, the {-be'} at the end of the sentence can negate the
> whole idea, not just the prefix it follows.

I'm not sure that the English translation is not simply 
intentionally inaccurate in order to span the customs of those 
it is translated for. I think Klingon Moms are actually saying, 
"If you don't eat everything, you won't die honorably." Hegh 
Hoch net Sov. batlh Heghlu' pagh batlhHa' Heghlu'. batlh 
Heghbe'lu'chugh vaj batlhHa' Heghlu'ba'.

I do not agree that this example implies any general rule that 
such a negative can be applied to any part of the sentence.
 
> -- ghunchu'wI'
 
charghwI'





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