tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 03 23:27:33 1997

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Re: KLBC: HeghvaD nol bom'a' (Requiem)



[email protected] on behalf of Qov wrote:
> At 04:00 PM 9/3/97 -0700, Eduardo Fonseca wrote:
> >
> >	I'm trying to translate into klingon, a "Requiem" the 
> >"Great funebrial song for the dead". Above, only the "Introduction" (yet). 
> >It's quite difficult to adapt the catholic myths and rituals to an alien
> culture, 
> 
> Sigh.  Sooner or later everyone has to try translating.  I advise everyone
> to wait until they can easily and accurately construct complex sentences of
> their own, before they try translating.

yIbItQo' *Qov*.  tlhIngan Hol ghojchoHDI' *Edy*, taghwI'na' ghaH.  batlh ghoj. 
 DaH po'bej.  bommey mughruplaw'.
Don't worry about it, Qov.  When Edy started learning Klingon, he was a 
complete beginner.  Now he's quite skilled.  I think he's ready to translate 
songs.

latlh taghwI'pu': *Qov* qeS yIbuS!  teH!
Other beginners: heed Qov's advice!  It's true!

> >	lIHtaHghach      - 	"Introduction" (on-going introduce)
> 
> English tends to use nouns for titles.  Klingon is so verb-based that noun
> title often look ugly, as this one does.  If you find yourself clutching for
> a {-ghach} in a stand alone noun, consider recasting and using a verb to
> express the same idea.

A couple of examples might help you be more comfortable with this idea.  
There's the statue in Worf's quarters (and also in Pok's home in Star Trek: 
Klingon) called {ghobchuq loDnI'pu'} "The Brothers Battle One Another."  A 
full sentence as the title of the statue!  And in KGT p. 86 we hear of a book 
called {jabmeH} "In Order to Serve," by J'puq; it is the title of a cookbook.

By the way, {lIHtaHghach} means something like "continuous introductions."  If 
you absolutely HAD to use {-ghach} (which I don't think you do), you'd 
probably want to choose another suffix before the {-ghach}.  (Not being able 
to think of one is a sure sign that you're misusing {-ghach}.)

-- 
SuStel
Stardate 97676.3



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