tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu May 27 17:52:13 1999

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RE: De'wI' Quj SeHmeH jan (KLBC)

Welcome to the list, Nelson. My name is pagh, and I am the current
Beginners' Grammarian for the list. Whenever you have a post you want help
with, mark it for my attention with a KLBC in the subject line.

jatlh Nelson:

> A few days ago I bought a new gamepad for my computer. There was a slogan 
> on the box: "Total Control for Total Victory". It seemed like a good thing

> to translate into Klingon, so I challenge all interested beginners to come

> up with a useful translation. Keep in mind that this is a marketing
slogan:
> keep it short and simple. A very literal translation *will fail*.

> Let me first introduce myself. *Nelson* jiH. I'm a very beginning klingon
> learner. I'm still trying to make sense out of everything in TKD and I'm
> also trying my hand with the postal course available on the net.

maj. Do be careful of spelling, though: <jIH>.

> Anyway, I found this particular chalenge interesting, so here is my 
> take on it

> SeHchu'meH yayna'.

> Please help me understand how I got it wrong ('cause I'm sure some of 
> it is wrong, if not all!)

Wow! It's not correct, but you have picked a lot of very useful tools for
your attempt. <-chu'> is the perfect verb suffix to express "total control".
You may also want to throw in a <-laH> ...

What doesn't work so well is the <-meH>. It is a good tool, but used in the
wrong place. <-meH> basically means "in order to", so you need to put <-meH>
on the verb that express the purpose or goal you are trying to accomplish.
In this case, the goal is "total victory". You've put it onto the action
("total control") that is taken to accomplish this goal.

<yayna'> is a very good way to express "total victory" as a noun. The
translations I have in mind all use verbs to express the idea of victory,
but other people will have other ideas that are just as good.

I'll wait a day or two to get any more detailed to give some other
beginners' a chance to post their responses as well.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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