tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 11 18:50:07 1999
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Re: translation from Barge
>Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 15:17:08 -0400 (EDT)
>From: malqa <[email protected]>
>
>I am still struggling with the translations from Barge of the Dead,being a
>newbie to tlhIngan Hol ,
>and now an online reviewer has asked for help from me.
>Can someone much more knowledgable than me help me out ?
>I did figure out some words and parts of sentences but here's the rest...
>I know this is a big job. .but any help is appreciated. It's the prefixes
>and suffixes that confuse me the most.
>The sentences came from a transcript with improper lower and uppcase
>letters as well . Here goes :
Woo, so you actually got a transcript? Neato. Let's see now...
>mag HoshonaH neS 'a gre'thor
This one's too confusing to do much with; I'm thinking it may be something
like "welcome to Grethor". Think "maj" for that first "mag" and "ghoS" for
the "Hos", and you get something like that "majghoS" suggestion for
"welcom" (I think the ILG used it). With a -neS thrown in for "honorably"?
Bleah.
>jIH neH
In proper Klingon, "I alone, only I." With they're messed-up word-order,
more likely "I want..."
>jIH ghaj nug SoH neH
"I have what? you want." Yes, that's it, though it should be "nuq." Note
that's word-for-word translation, so it isn't really how you should say it
in Klingon: they took the English and translated the words one at a time.
>jIH ghaj nej SoH
"I have seek you."(literally, of course). Mmm, probably "I have been
looking for you." Ugh, even translating the auxiliary verbs. Eww.
>nuq SoH' loS
"What you wait-for" -- "What are you waiting for??"
>vav nuqDaq SoH (where is your father[is this right?]>
It would help if we had the contexts... actually maybe it's better we
don't, so we're not confused.
Well, no, it isn't right, in the sense that you don't say "where is your
father" that way in Klingon. Whether or not the Paramount writers would
say it that way, however, is entirely another question. It's probably
intended to be "Father, where are you?" (which actually IS correct in
Klingon, now that I think of it).
>nuqDaq 'oH puchpa'e' (Where is the bathroom {from TKD]
Yes.
>qoS'qar qavlI
Well, presuming "qoS'qar" is the name for those siren voices, we're left
with "qavlI"... There isn't a root "qav"; maybe "Qav" for "last" (you said
the capitalization was uncertain). "lI"... um, maybe supposed to be
"-lI'"? "Your last qoS'qar"? I dunno, this one beats me.
>Duj tlvoqtaH
"Duj tIvoqtaH"/Always trust your instincts, from TKD.
>tugh = soon
Yes.
>jIH qoy SoH
Literally "I hear you". Obviously wrong in Klingon, but translated
word-for-word from English.
>qot' maH SoH gre'thor
Mmm, "Qot" for "qot" and we get "lie we you Grethor". Um... Sorry, dunno
about that.
>paq'batlh = school [book] of Honor
Well, should be "batlh paq" for "book of honor", but that's been pointed
out.
>pIcH vIghajbe' = I believe this was corrected for me as " I am not at
>fault"
Yes. "I do-not-have blame". It's in TKD.
>jIjajbe' = I don't understand[from TKD]
Actually, "jIyajbe'".
>jIHtaHbogh naDev vISovbe'
"I am lost", from TKD; one of the most troubling canon phrases. Later
re-translated as "DaqwIj vISovbe'"; Okrand apparently didn't like this
version of it either. It's along the lines of "I don't know the 'here'
where I am."
>bIjegh be'chugh vaj bIHegh
"bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh" -- "Surrender or die", from TKD.
>Hab SoSlI' Quch = Your mother has a smooth forehead
Yes.
>Sop joq' jIH yuv gagh Dreq = I'm stuck on the word Dreq , the sentence is
>eat the gagh or I will push it ,etc ....
"Dreq" isn't a Klingon word (breaks phonology as we know it, too). "Eat or
I push gagh Dreq..." Dunno...
>qem nuHneq =sentence is about bringing a weapon ?
"qem" is "bring", "nuH" is indeed "weapon"; not sure what the "-neq" is
doing there (maybe modelled on nuqneH for some diseased reason?)
>'uch ghH = Hold her! (this is when they are trying to place a brand on
>Torres' face I believe
"'uch ghaH", literally "hold her"; again, word-order's wrong.
>I do not know if the first word here is with a q or a Q . The translation
>capitalized *every* first letter in every sentence ...
>Since I can't figure out the rest I don't know what it is yet.
>It really might be a q because of the 2nd word .
>q(Q)uSDaqba' quSDaqba' puqDoy'lo vlIo'la
"quSDaq ba'" is literally "he/she/it sits in a chair"; idiomatically it
refers to someone stating the blindingly obvious. "puqDoy'" is probably
"puq Doy'"/"tired child", an example used in TKD. "lo" doesn't make sense
there, and the last word something with "vIlo'"/"I use it" and that weird
"la" at the end... maybe supposed to be "vIlo'laH"/"I can use it"?
>Help please! I"m sure the reviewer will credit the translater .
Make sure you explain well that even when the words make sense in English
in the order given, they aren't correct Klingon (in fact, they often mean
quite the opposite of what you intend).
~mark