tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 18 09:25:58 2000

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RE: for the first time



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayton Rodrigo Cardoso [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2000 11:49 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: for the first time
>
>
> I would like to know how I can express the idea of "first time".
> Below are some examples of the intended effect.
>
> This phrase was originally written by Shakespeare.
> When I first saw her, I imediately fell in love.
> Then, that celebration happened for the first time.

Hmmm. I'd say that the problem you seek to solve is easy, but there  are
other problems in this pair of sentences that are much harder in Klingon.
For your querry, Klingon has a specific verb: {qIH}. It means "meet (for the
first time)". That sense of "for the first time" is one of two differences
between it and {ghom}, which is the more general verb for "meet", referring
to ANY time that people meet.

In an interview with Okrand, he conveyed to me another difference. The more
general verb works both as {qaghom} "I meet you" and {maghom} "we meet". The
verb {qIH} always has a direct object. I can say {qaqIH} "I meet you (for
the first time)," or I can say {maqIHchuq} "We meet each other for the first
time," but I'm not using the verb properly if I ever say *maqIH* "We meet
for the first time." That's just not how the verb is used.

So, for the Shakespear "When I first saw her", you can just say {vIqIHDI'}.
Meanwhile, there is no way to make the vague, wittering and indecisive
statement "I immediately fell in love" in Klingon. What do you mean by that?
You can definitely describe any one of the dozens of different things you
might mean by such an amorphous statement:

bangwI' vImojmoH vIneHchoH.
parmaqqaywI' vImojmoH vIneHchoH.
vIngagh vIneHchoH.
ghaHvaD tuq'a' vIchenmoH vIneH.
SIbI' vISuvchoH.
tIqwI' DuQchu' be'vam Quch.
(Guys, look at that one again. I'm proud of it.)
be'vam vImonchoHmoH vIneH. Qu'vam potlh law' Hoch potlh puS.
vItlha' vIneHchu'.
vISawqangchoH.

I could go on. The point is, you are translating what is essentially poetry,
which can never be done all that well because in order to translate it, you
have to understand the specific meaning of the passage and poetry is not
specific. The multiple potential meanings is the beauty of poetry; that
statement that goes beyond the actual words.

My own statement above is somewhat poetic. {tIqwI' DuQchu' be'vam Quch.} It
can mean "This happy woman perfectly stabs my heart," which would basically
mean that she emotionally affects me, like an exquisitely beautiful work of
art. It could also mean "This woman's forehead perfectly stabs my heart,"
which can imply a more physical exposition of passion that is certainly
worthy of musing from a Klingon perspective.

You can also say something as explicit as {munongmoH}. She causes me to be
passionate.

For "Then, that celebration happened for the first time," you want to work
with the best tools Klingon has to offer, rather than stick to the literal,
word-by-word translation. Something like:

ghIq tagh lopvam wa'DIch.

Literally, it means, "Subsequently, this first celebration began." It is not
exactly like the English statement in form, but it has all the same elements
of meaning. You know that you are talking about the celebration at hand. You
know it is the first of its kind. You know that it begins. You know the
beginning happens after your first meeting.

That's my stab at it, anyway.

SarrIS



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