tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 19 06:16:11 2001

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RE: Help(KLBC)


> RNButler wrote:
> : I am trying to translate this saying
> : You have nothing to fear but fear itself 
> 
> 
Voragh replied:

> Although not a direct translation, we do have what amounts to the Klingon
> version of this saying:
> 
>   bIHeghvIpchugh bIHeghpu' 
>   If you are afraid to die, you have already died. TKW
> 
> Looking through my notes on {-vIp}, I found this very nice statement by
> Seqram he posted a while ago to this list:
> 
>   It is significant that {-vIp} is a suffix and not a verb: it shows
>   that in Klingon the emphasis is placed on the result of fear.
>   Specifically, you can't just "fear" in a vacuum: you have to be
>   afraid to do something in particular. It shows how "being afraid"
>   is viewed by Klingon-speakers..."
> 
> Good advice, though he overlooked the verbs {Haj} "dread" and {lIm)
> "panic".  
> 
> Finally, consider your saying from the other side and recasting it with
> {ghIj} "scare", used several times by Okrand:
> 
>   jaghpu'lI' DaghIjjaj!
>   May you scare your enemies! PK 
> 
>   qo'mey Sar charghtaHvIS chaH Dat tlhIngan may'Duj luleghDI' neH qIb
>    nganpu' buQpu' may'Duj 'ej ghIjpu' 'oH. nIteb ghIjpu' je Deghvam
>   this symbol grew to become as feared throughout the galaxy as the
>    menacing profiles of their battlecruisers. SP1 
> 
>   not qoHpu''e' neH ghIjlu'
>   Only fools have no fear. TKW
> 
>   vay' DaghIjlaHchugh bIHoSghaj 
>   Fear is power. TKW
> 
> 
> 
Voragh's comments here are all good. The only thing I have to add is that
for rephrasing it, you might want to recast your sentence as one of these
suggestions:

"Only fear can scare you." ("Fear" as a noun might be written as
{SIQvIpghach} in this case, which would mean something like "being afraid of
enduring something")

or

"If you are afraid of being scared, you can be scared."

- taD

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