tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 06 09:06:24 1999
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RE: Translation assistance
jatlh qe'San:
> Hi everyone
> Its been a while since I last wrote to the list but
> below is a copy of various emails regarding translations
> for a story title <Privateer's Moon> and the Klingon
> Strike Force's Motto <Strength through Honour> I would
> be grateful for any opinions as to whether I've got
> anywhere near/acceptable with <HoD mob maS> and
> <batlh HoS pechav> respectively. The latter was
> specifically requested to be as short and sweet as the
> language would allow.
lu'.
Discussion from outside the list . . .
>>>> K'logh has sent a submission for the Worlds of Empire project.
>>>> It is called Privateer's Moon, and he'd like a translation for
>>>> it. What do we call a Privateer? A privateer is distinct from
>>>> a pirate; weren't they paid by governments to raid the ships
>>>> of their enemies?
>>> Yes thats right the word can apply to either the ship or the
>>> captain but obviously in this case it's the captian..
>>> In this context The Privateer would be the Captain of a
>>> privately owned ship working for a Government and can be
>>> working alongside the government forces or seperatly towards
>>> the same goals.
>>> In a Klingon context this would seem to refer "a Klingon Captin"
>>> not in the KDF ie any of the Captains of a house ship during the
>>> civil war could be classed as Privateer's.
>>> Here lies the problem as it does seem to mean almost any Klingon
>>> Captain.
>>> I think there are really only a couple of possibilities and they
>>> are:
>>> Lone Captain <HoD mob> or
>>> Aiding Captain <HoD QaH>
The verb <QaH> does not describe a state or quality, so it can't go after a
verb like this. This would have to be <QaHbogh HoD>.
>>> I think I prefer <HoD mob> which therefore makes:
>>> Privateer's Moon <HoD mob maS>
>>> What do you think.
>> I kinda think K'logh will like the translation. qatlho'!
>> What did you think about my possible Privateers Moon
>> translation <HoD mob maS>
> I liked it and just heard from K'logh who liked it and intends to
> use it.
"Privateer's Moon" is a pretty difficult phrase to just up and translate.
<HoD mob> works well for "lone captain", but "privateer" is another matter.
According to my dictionary (actually, it's one of my cube neighbor's)
"privateer" is defined as "1. a privately owned ship commissioned to fight
or harrass enemy ships. 2. the captain or a crew member of such a ship". The
song title refers to the captain, so <HoD> is fine, but how do you describe
the idea that he owns his own ship and fights for pay? You could say <DujDaj
ghajtaHbogh HoD'e' 'ej SuvDI' Huch Hevbogh>, but that would make for a
really lousy song title. Unfortunately, Klingon doesn't have a word that's
even close to "privateer" or "mercenary", so it's probably best to just
avoid it and go with something else you like, such as <HoD mob>.
So <HoD mob maS> is fine for "Privateer's Moon" in this particular context.
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>> A translation I came up with for Strength thru Honour is
>> <batlh Hos pechav>
>> I'll put that to KLI list if you wish.
> I like that, it's very Klingon because it's giving a command.
> Yes, I would like to know what the pab po'pu' of the KLI might
> have to say.
This is quite good. However, since <chav> has an object, it should be <batlh
HoS yIchav>.
pagh
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