tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 06 07:05:08 1999
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Re: KLBC: Dearest Love
>From: [email protected]
>Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 08:22:49 -0500
>
>Okay that one was easy in retrospect. I did not make the connection between
>dearest and definate in <bangna'wI'>.
>
>To continue however if I wanted to say "pure love" or "my pure dearest love"
>could I say:
>
>bang nIt -- pure love. Using the stative verb <nIt> as an adjective to the
>noun <bang>.
Grammatically okay, but be careful with the meaning. The English
expression "my pure dearest love", at least historically, referred to a
different meaning of "pure": not "unmixed" but rather "innocent, chaste."
"My pure love" was like "my innocent one, my love unsullied by sin or
corruption." Hey, whaddaya want from Elizabethans? In which case,
<bangna'wI' chun> would be a bit closer, but does sound to me more like
your love is on trial for some crime and your reference to her is pointedly
(if incidentally) indicating your belief in her innocence.
Mmm... Then again, {nIt} is glossed as "be uncorrupted", but given the
other meanings it seems more like "not corrupted by admixture of other
elements" than "not corrupted by sin." To me, anyway. Your kellicammage
may vary.
>bangna'wI' nIt <OR> bangna'wI' nItqu' -- my pure dearest love OR my most
>pure dearest love. as above.
Grammar's okay.
>Is the suffix <na'> the closest you think we can get to dearest?
*shrug*... You want more precision, you pay the price in verbosity. All
the worse because Klingon (as we now know it) is poorly stocked with
concepts like "dear" and "sweet" (in the non-tasting sense), "adorable",
etc. Try the verb <'ey> maybe? Might get you slapped if interpreted
literally and used in public. Which of course can be fun too... ahem,
getting ahead of myself.
>Side question would
>bangna'wI' nIt 'IH je
>be 'My dearest love is pure and beautiful'????
Verbs precede subjects: <nIt bangna'wI' 'ej 'IH> ("my dear love is pure and
[she is] beautiful") or re-ordering thereof: <nIt 'ej 'IH bangna'wI' ("[she
is] pure and my dear love is beautiful"; the cataphora isn't as bad in
Klingon as it is in English); use pronouns or restate the subject if you're
feeling verbose: <nIt bangna'wI' 'ej 'IH ghaH>, <nIt bangna'wI' 'ej 'IH
bangna'wI'>, etc, etc, mutatis mutandis, DC al Fine.
~mark