tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 09 11:43:15 2001
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Re: quraq's saying of the day
quraq wrote:
: qoDDaq tlhe' jej'a' mIn
: The sharper eye turns inward
Since you've removed this from KLBC, I'll comment on your grammar.
{jej'a'} means "is it sharp?" You're confusing the augmentative NOUN suffix
{-'a'} with the interrogative VERB suffix {-'a'}. Rephrase this as
qoDDaq tlhe' mIn jej.
The sharp eye turns inward.
I think this is perfectly fine as it is, but if you really want to augment
{jej} to render "sharper", we have a couple of options.
First, you could use the {A Q law' B Q puS} formula for comparing A to B in
terms of the quality Q. First thing you need to figure out is: What are you
comparing A (mIn) to? I.e. sharper than what? We could avoid being specific
and compare it to everything else {Hoch}, which results in a Klingon
superlative:
qoDDaq tlhe' mIn jej law' Hoch jej puS.
The sharpest eye turns inward.
but this feels a little awkward.
A second method is to use the verb suffix {-qu'} - which needn't always be
translated "very" - to emphasize {jej}:
qoDDaq tlhe' mIn jejqu'.
I'm also not sure what it means for an eye to "turn" within. Instead of
translating literally, consider the verbs {nej} "look for, seek, search for";
{bej} "watch"; and of course {legh} "see". Of these, I prefer the first:
qoDDaq nej mIn jejqu'.
The sharper eye looks/searches within.
: This proverbs that a klingons instinct or preception is often better then
: the eyes themselves. For in a DS9 episode Worf says a Klingon warrior knows
: when someone has the killing look, almost like an instinct.
Duj tIvoqtaH
Always trust your instincts. TKD
DujlIj yIvoq
Trust your instincts. TKW
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons