tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 01 14:33:02 1998
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Re: De'wI' malja'
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: De'wI' malja'
- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 17:32:59 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <l0302090ab2892c981097@[205.139.170.223]>
- Priority: NORMAL
jInIDqa':
On Mon, 30 Nov 1998 22:15:28 -0800 (PST) Alan Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:
> ja' charghwI':
> >On Mon, 30 Nov 1998 07:30:24 -0800 (PST) [email protected] wrote:
> >
> >> There is a PA Dutch saying that goes something like this:
> >>
> >> jImoDtaHvIS ghIgh puS vIrIn!
> >>
> >> ("the faster I go, the behinder I get")
> >
> >I can't just see this happen. {rIn} doesn't mean "finish
> >(something)". It means "be finished". It is not transitive.
>
> Right. {ghIgh puS vIrInmoH} 'fixes' that problem, but it doesn't
> produce a very understandable sentence. "I finish few necklaces"
> (using the "necklace" idiom for "assignment") implies to me that
> you have a succession of temporary assignments, not that you have
> a list of tasks that must be accomplished.
>
> >Also, even if it were transitive, your phrasing doesn't really
> >convey what you seek. I want to try:
> >
> >nom Qu' vIta'taH 'ach Qu' chu' vISuqbogh law' law' Qu' vIta'bogh
> >law' puS.
> >
> >Yuck. Maybe it's better as:
> >
> >batlh Qu'meywIj vIta'taH 'ach reH ghurtaH Qu'mey vIta'nISbogh
> >mI'.
>
> Yuck indeed. They are correct and grammatical -- and they are also
> wordy and sterile. They lack pith. I think pithiness and brevity
> can be even more important than perfect accuracy when translating a
> "saying" such as this. My attempt:
>
> DowIj vIghurchugh SerwIj vInup.
>
> -- ghunchu'wI'
nom jIqet 'ach nom puv Qu'meywIj.
Does the imagery work?
charghwI' 'utlh