tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 02 11:43:45 1999
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RE: KLBC: chu' mutlhegh
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: chu' mutlhegh
- Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 11:44:47 -0700
jatlh Nelson Lamoureux:
> I was thinking about the motto "no pain, no gain" and tried
> to translate it I came up with this:
> yIbechQo'chugh yI'IHQo'.
> Is this good?
It's a good idea with a few problems. Let's do this in two parts:
> yIbechQo'chugh
You have an imperative prefix here, which does not make sense. Imperative
prefixes are for commands - <yIDoH!> - "Back off!". You instead need the
regular prefix for a subject of "you" and no object: <bI->.
The suffix <-Qo'> is pefect there, though. Much better than <-be'>. When
used with a regular prefix, it is often translated as "refuse".
bIbechQo'chugh - If you refuse to suffer
> yI'IHQo'
The same comment about imperative prefixes also applies here.
In this case, <-Qo'> is not the right negative suffix. While "no pain" is
something you have a choice about, "no gain" is the result of that choice -
something that happens to you, so it is not something you can refuse.
Also, instead of saying "you will not be beautiful", you probably want to
say "you will not become beautiful" - <bI'IHchoHbe'>.
So what you wind up with is this:
bIbechQo'chugh bI'IHchoHbe'
Note that "no pain, no gain" is more general than this, and the following
phrases would also make sense:
bIbechQo'chugh bIHoSchoHbe'
bIbechQo'chugh not SuvwI' Damoj
etc.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian
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