tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 07 16:11:42 2000
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Re: words i can't work out
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: words i can't work out
- Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 19:11:21 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
- Priority: NORMAL
On Fri, 7 Jan 2000 16:13:30 +0000 (GMT) jenwI'
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Jan 2000, Steven Boozer wrote:
>
> > jenwI' wrote:
> > : I was wondering if anybody had any ideas for translating the following
> > : words:
> > : explorer (N)
> > : pioneer (N & VT)
> > : miser (N)
> > : cruel (A)
> >
> > It's always better to supply the entire sentence or paragraph you're trying to
> > translate, rather than isolated words. Often there is no word-for-word
> > equivalent (at least, not with our current knowledge of the vocabulary), but
> > rather an entire clause or just the precise use of a single suffix. Sometimes,
> > too, the translation will be different in different contexts.
>
>
> This was to do with my story about my family... My great-grandfather was a
> bit of a miser and a bit cruel... I also wanted to say that he and my
> great-grandmother were sortof pioneers in Burmah. (He designed and
> installed the refinery at Syriam for the Burmah Oil Company -- he also
> designed the BP Oil Refinery hear at Grangemouth... ;) )
The point here is that in any language, if you don't have a
word, you use a description. Klingon may not have a word for
"miser", but you can certainly describe your great-grandfather
in Klingon in a way that will give us the same image that we get
when we use the word "miser" in English.
reH Huch vI'taH vavnI'wI' vav. pIjHa' vay' DIl. reH Huch maStaH.
verengan rur.
This is SO much more meaningful than trying to nail the meaning
of the word "miser" to the meaning of some arbitrarily
reassigned or constructed Klingon single word. Concern yourself
less with word-for-word equivalents and think more about the
meaning of what you want to say and what tools Klingon has for
expressing that meaning.
> jenwI'
>
> *mutta'* tuq
> [email protected]
> http://www.nine9.ukshells.co.uk
charghwI'