tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Apr 07 11:05:24 2000

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RE: KLBC How do I say.



jatlh Rohn A.

> I would like to know how to say:
> As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
> Would it be:
> vaj jIH qorDu'wIj je joH'a' wItoy'qu'qa.

What is meant by "my house"? Is it the limited unit of your household (e.g.
you, your spouse and your children), or is it more like "tribe; house;
ancestral unit". If it's the former, then <qorDu'> is fine, but if it's the
latter, then use <tuq> instead.

The <-qa> on the end of <wItoy'qu'> is not correct. Even if it's meant to be
<-qa'>, it still doesn't make any sense. I don't even know that the <-qu'>
is necessary or useful - are you promising to serve the Lord or *really*
serve the Lord. Just because we have suffixes like <-qu'> doesn't mean we
always need to use them.

The idea of "as for" can be expressed really nicely with the noun suffix
<-'e'>. The point of phrasing the English this way, I think, is to emphasize
that you are talking about your house, and not someone else. That's exactly
what <-'e'> does. Also, despite the slightly weird grammar, the "me and my
house" is logically the subject of the English sentence, and it needs to be
the subject of the Klingon sentence as well.

joH'a' wItoy' jIH'e', qorDu'wIj'e' je.

> I used "joH'a'" to mean the Lord as in God.

As well you should. Okrand has given use the word <Qun> for "god", but it's
meant for the Klingons' historical gods. <Qun> would be perfect for the
ancient Greek or Roman gods, but Okrand has said it does not apply to a
single, all powerful God. He agreed with someone that <joH'a'> was a good
term for that concept.

> What word would I use for faithfulness, as in some 
> one has faithfulness to fulfill a task or promise? 
> Thanks for the help.

Probably nothing at all. You can't translate single words. You have to
translate ideas. To talk about "faithfulness" in fulfilling a task or
promise, you might use words like <matlh> - "be loyal" or <batlh> -
"honorably". If you can give me with more context, I can give you more help.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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