tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 25 15:15:27 1998
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Re: opera: SIStaH
muHwI' wrote:
: {SIStaH} -"it's raining"
: {SIStaH vay'} - "something is raining" (e.g. it's raining cows)
:
: can {SIS} be used like that?
: The sentence is "Fire will be raining from the sky" (Feuer wird vom Himmel
: regnen). I could also use "fall" instead of rain, and it's not necessary to
: specify where the rain comes from, klingons are smart enough to know where
: the rain comes from. Suggestions, comments?
How to use the verb {SIS} "rain" has been one of the more hotly contested
issues on this list since its inception. Okrand had never used it or {peD}
"snow" in any published context, probably because Klingons don't waste time
making polite small talk about the weather (muD Dotlh). The questions were
basically: Does {SIS} have a subject? If so, what? {muD}, {muD Dotlh}, {chal}
or something else? Can the subject, if one is needed, be indefinite (English
"It's raining", French *Il pluit*) or even completely unstated (Latin
*Pluvit*,
Russian *Idyot dozhd'*)?
Recently, however, DloraH was able to talk to Okrand about the weather at a
convention in May and was kind enough to post this when he returned:
In a way everyone was correct with this one. It rained a few times
during the weekend, so we were put into the situation to discuss it.
{SIS}. {SISqu'}. {SIStaH}. {SISchoH}. All correct. {SISlu'}, although
grammatically correct, he didn't particularly like... You can also
give it an object and say things like the clouds rained down cats and
dogs... or something like that; you get the idea. But when Marc and I
went outside and drops of water were falling on us, he looked up and
simply said "{SIS}".
So, it seems one can say:
toH, SIS.
So, it's raining. (simple statement of fact)
SISchoH jay'!
Damn, it's started to rain! (and you forgot your umbrella!)
va, SIStaH!
Blast, it's still raining! (since the last time you looked)
maj, SISlI'.
Good, the rain's tapering off. (finally the end is in sight)
and so on. While
targhmey tI'qa' vIghro'mey je SIS
It was raining targs and tika cats.
is implied by Okrand's statement, a Klingon would probably imagine you being
pelted by wild animals falling on your head! {SISqu'} is probably the best
translation for "rain cats and dogs" - or even "rain cows" (is that the German
expression?). Perhaps there's a similar idiom in Klingon we have yet to hear.
More imaginatively, consider:
may' ghobtaHvIS maHDaq naQjejmey luSIStaH jagh
The enemy rained spears down on us all during the battle.
Hmmm... you may want to say {naQjejmey SIS*moH* jagh} instead. {may'} could
also be omitted as redundant, though Okrand did say {may' ghob} was possible
(cf. KGT p.47).
Finally, you can translate the line for your operatic friend as:
chalvo' qul SIS
Fire will be raining from the sky.
Feuer wird vom Himmel regnen.
_________________________________________________________________________
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)