tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 23 11:53:33 1998

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Re: DS9 Finale Kl;ingon

: Voragh wrote:
: >Last night I taped the rerun and transcribed the closed captions.
: >These are:
: >     NEH TAH KRONOS.
: >     HEGH BAT'LHQU HOCH NEJ MAH.
: >     NEH TAH KRONOS.
: >     YAY JE BAT'LH MANOB HEGH.
: 
: Just squinching up my eyes and taking a sort of impressionistic stab
: at it, I come up with 
:         Kronos alone endures
:         We all seek honorable death
:         Kronos alone endures
:         Death gives us honor and victory
: (I'm assuming that they got the O-V-S order basically right, that they are
: understanding {neH} wrongly to mean "only, solely" and not just "merely")
: So, re-translated (with no attempt at rhyme or meter):
:         taHbej Qo'noS
:         batlh maHegh wIneH
:         taHbej Qo'noS
:         yay batlh je nunob Hegh
: 
: -- ter'eS

I like the image: whereas individual Klingon warriors may die (preferably
honorably), "Only Kronos survives".  But why did you omit {neH}?  After a
noun it *does* mean "only, solely": 

     "One word fits somewhat awkwardly into this category: {neH} 'only,
merely, just.' 
     Unlike the other adverbials, it follows the verb which it modifies. The
semantic
     effect is one of trivializing the action ... Also unlike the other
adverbials,
     {neH} can follow a noun. In such cases, it means 'only, alone'. {yaS
neH} 'only
     the officer, the officer alone'.  {jonta' neH} 'only the engine'." (TKD
56f)

BTW, I think it sounds more solemn and more of a timeless truth to drop
{-bej}: {taH Qo'noS neH}, particularly as a refrain in a death chant - if
that's what it is.

Voragh

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