tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 04 09:01:43 2000
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Re: Feynman quote
De'vID wrote:
: vay' lInglaHmo' QeD, lI' QeD.
: (Science is of value because it can produce something.)
: -- Richard Feynman
I see that you do the same thing I do: translate quotations into Klingon
whenever I notice that we have the necessary vocabulary. But why do you prefer
{lI'} "be useful" over {lo'laH} "be valuable", which is virtually synonymous
with "be of value"? {lo'laH} does not seem to refer to price or monetary value
in Klingon as it is derived from {lo'} "use, make use of", though I must
confess that I don't see much difference between the two. E.g.:
Qu'vaD lI' De'vam
This information is useful for the mission. TKD
Qu'vaD lI' net tu'bej
One certainly finds it useful for the mission.
One will certainly observe that it is useful to the mission. TKD/ST3
HoS lI' Dalo'Ha'chu'.
You are a total waste of good energy! PK
lI' 'e' Datu'.
You will find it useful. PK
lI'qu' tlhIngan may' taj
The Klingon battle knife is designed primarily for versatility of use. SP2
Although Okrand has never used {lo'laH} in a sentence, he has used its antonym
{lo'laHbe'} "be worthless":
vIlo'laHbe'
They are useless to me.
I cannot use them. TKD
leghlaHchu'be'chugh mIn lo'laHbe' taj jej
A sharp knife is nothing without a sharp eye. TKW
lo'laHbe'; chetvI' chIm rur
worthless as an empty torpedo tube KGT
Compare this to {lI'be'} "be useless":
wa'maH yIHmey lI'be'
ten useless tribbles CK
The difference in meaning is slight. Perhaps {lo'laH} is stronger than {lI'}?
If so, then I would suggest:
vay' lInglaHmo' lo'laH QeD.
Because it can produce something, science is valuable.
Since this is a relatively short sentence, I think we don't need to repeat
{QeD} in both clauses. Personally, I think it sounds better to put {QeD}
second - in the main, independent clause. Putting it in the first, dependent
clause is certainly an option
vay' lInglaHmo' QeD, lo'laH.
Because science can produce something, it is valuable.
but this sounds awkward to me. We could also put the dependent clause second,
as in English:
lo'laH QeD, vay' lInglaHmo'.
Science is valuable because it can produce something.
Although Okrand says that dependant {-mo'} and {-meH} clauses can grammatically
come in either order, good Klingon style - or at least Maltz! - seems to prefer
putting them first.
YMMV.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons