tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 30 21:36:15 2001

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: " tIqyoH " pongpu'bogh ghe'naQvo' jImugh



> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 12:33 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: " tIqyoH " pongpu'bogh ghe'naQvo' jImugh
>
>
> In a message dated 01-04-27 12:32:42 EDT, you write:
>
> << Indeed.
>
>  : Hegh Hoch loD 'ach yInchu'be' Hoch loD.
>  : (Every man dies...but not all men truly live.)
>  : <Every man dies, but every man does not perfectly live.>
>
>  There's no need to edit this; we can translate it exactly:
>
>    Hegh Hoch loD 'ach yInchu'be' Hoch loDpu'.
>    "Every man dies but all men do not truly live."
>
> Interesting...why did you pluralize loD in the second part but
> not the first?

If a noun following {Hoch} is singular, {Hoch} is translated as "each". If
the noun is plural, {Hoch} is translated as "all".

I think this example would be much better translated as:

Hegh Hoch loD 'ach yInchu' 'op loDpu' neH.

The noun {'op} basically means "some" with the number unspecified, so this
means, "Every man dies, but only some men truly live." An alternative would
be {Hegh Hoch loD 'ach yInchu' loDpu' puS neH}, but that takes a step toward
specifying the quantity of men that is perhaps implied, but not stated in
the original English offered above.

I think the earlier translations suffer from trying to remain too literal
and adhere too much to the specifically chosen words of the English, rather
than to the meaning.

>  : tlhab tIqlIj. Datlha'meH toDuj yIghajnIs.
>  : (Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow her.)
>  : <Your heart is free. You must have the courage to follow it.>
>
>  First, {-nIS} is not used with imperatives:
>
>    yIghaj     "Have it!"
>    Daghaj     "You have it."
>    DaghajnIS  "You must have it."
>
> I didn't see that ... for my own edification, where is this rule located?

It's not a rule. The redundancy is merely nonsensical in most cases.
Consider the difference in English between these two commands:

"Have the courage to follow her!"

"Need to have the courage to follow her!"

See?

Necessity is already implied by the imperative voice. That's why we call it
"imperative".

>  Second, "have the courage" is an English idiom for "be brave"
> {yoH}.  E.g.:
>
>    QaghmeylIj tIchID, yIyoH.
>    Have the courage to admit your mistakes. TKW
>
>  Thus:
>
>    tlhab tIqlIj. Datlha'meH yIyoH.
>
>  or following the more concise TKW example:
>
>    tlhab tIqlIj. yItlha', yIyoH.
>
>  In Klingon, {ghaj} "have, possess" usually has a physical,
> tangible object --
>  although there is the one odd idiom:
>
>    pIch vIghajbe'.
>    It's not my fault. TKD
>
>  In general, whenever you see a phrase with the English helping
> verbs "have",
>  "do", "make", "be", etc., don't translate them literally into
> Klingon, but
> look
>  for a one word synonym.  E.g. {'uH} "have a hangover", {wuQ} "have a
> headache"
>  or today's Word of the Day {Qoj} "make war".
>
>  If, however, you insist on {toDuj yIghaj!}, consider using the
> more evocative
>  {qajunpaQ} "*kajunpakt* (courage, audacity)" from KGT.
>   >>
>
> I shall...but I do not necessarily insist on that interpretation.

Good.

> Thanks for
> your help!
>
> juDmoS

charghwI' 'utlh



Back to archive top level