tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Oct 28 08:45:21 2001

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Re: Klingon literature: clipped or flowery?



Let's be clear on the whole curtness issue.  Some people may tell you that
Klingons are always totally efficient in their use of language.  This really
isn't true.  Klingons will sometimes add extra clarification to their
speech, things that aren't "strictly necessary."  As a simple example, see
THE KLINGON DICTIONARY, p. 61: /yaS legh puq 'ej yaS qIp puq/.

In many cases, Klingon IS more efficient in describing something than
English is.  Sometimes, though, it is not.  Each language has its strengths
and weaknesses.  Trouble often arises when translating from one to another:
translators often try to include each and every nuance of a sentence of one
language into another.  This will almost always make the translated sentence
more cluttered than the original.

The worst is when people try to translate poetry.  If you want to capture
the concepts of the original, you've got to be willing to abandon a
completely literal translation, and use the native strengths of the target
language to recreate the concept.  Translate as if you were writing an
original.  If this requires some redundancy or extra-special suffix-use, so
be it.  Do what it takes to say the right thing.

And as for Clipped Klingon: use it liberally, but don't use it excessively.
Most people on the list don't use Clipped Klingon as often in their writing
(or even speech) as Klingons would.  But don't make every sentence Clipped!

90% shorter?  Does your translation MEAN the same thing as the original?

SuStel
Stardate 1825.1


----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniela Berger" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 1:30 PM
Subject: Klingon literature: clipped or flowery?


> Hello, it's me again!
>
> And I have another question.
> When I translated the story about the northwind and the sun, Clayton
> sent me his version, and I noticed that it was a lot shorter. This
> brings me to the question:
> Are Klingons as curt in their literature as they are in their everyday
> conversation? Would an author be called weak or un-Klingon if he used
> more words than strictly necessary?
> This question really made me think when I considered translating "The
> Oval Portrait" for the Poe Project. This story could be expressed in
> -hm- five(?) sentences of Clipped Klingon, and thus be about 90%
> shorter than the original.
>
> So, what do you think: should telling a Klingon a story be like giving
> a report, or is it okay to be more verbose?
>
> Thank you
>
> Daniela B
>


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