tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jun 24 02:17:02 1999

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Re: KLBC qaDHom



jIjatlh:
> First, harm not the honor of the patient

jang peHruS. jatlh:
> jIjang: wa'DIch SID quv yIQIHQo'!
>
> mu' {wa'DIch} lo'vam lo'DI' HoD Qanqor, jIbelbe'qu'.
> 'ach chuplaw'mo' je MO, vaj jIlajnIS.

Regardless of whether <wa'DIch> can grmatically be used in this way, it is
most definitely wrong here. The "first" has nothing to do with the order of
how things are done. It means that this adivce is the most important - the
highest obligation of the doctor. As such, <wa'DIch> is the wrong tool.
ghunchu'wI' posted several good ways to express this, and I had a suggestion
as well.

<SID quv yIQIHQo'> is good, and is the most literal translation possible. It
also carries a bit of amusing ambiguity. A better translation, though, of
the idea behind the saying is <SID yIquvHa'moHQo'>. Don't get stuck on the
words or the grammatical structure of the thing - translate the idea behind
it. That was the point of the challenge. The English was obviously a play on
the Terran Hypocratic Oath, but that has no relevance in the Klingon.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian



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