tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 11 14:51:38 2002

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



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

RE: need help on translation



Deghnegh Qor wrote:
>Now I have another question which is the word chu' in TKD p83 both words 
>have ' after them. How does one when writing tell the differance between 
>the two words.

Like all Klingon homonyms:  By how they are used, by what prefixes and 
suffixes they have, and by the context.

{chu'} "be new" is a quality and can modify nouns, like adjectives in 
English.  Qualities don't take an object and can be used attributively 
(e.g. {paq chu' vIlaD} "I'm reading a new book") or predicatively (e.g. 
{chu' paq vIlaDbogh} "the book which I'm reading is new").  Also, being a 
quality, {chu'} "be new" by itself will never take the object verb 
prefixes.  You can't "new" something.

{chu'} "to engage, activate, turn on (a device)" is a transitive verb and 
takes an object (i.e. "activate something").  E.g.: {So'wI' yIchu'} "Engage 
the cloaking device!", {So'wI' vIchu'ta'} "I have engaged the cloaking 
device", {So'wI' chu'lu'ta'} "The cloaking device has been engaged", 
{Dachu'Ha'ta''a'} "Have you deactivated it?".

And there's another one from KGT: {chu'} "play (a musical 
instrument)".  This is also a transitive verb and usually takes an 
object.  E.g." {DIr 'In chu' wo'rIv} "Worf is playing a drum", {DIron 
Dachu'laH'a'} "Can you play the bagpipes?"

You can also combine these verbs:

   DIr 'InDaj chu' chu' wo'rIv.
   Worf is playing his new drum.

{DIr 'InDaj chu'} "his new drum"
{chu' wo'rIv} "Worf plays it"

   chu''a' DIr 'In chu'bogh wo'rIv?
   Is the drum Worf is playing new?.

{chu''a'} "Is it new?"
{DIr 'In chu'bogh wo'rIv} "the drum which Worf is playing"

   jonpIn, So'wI' chu' yIchu'!
   Engineering Officer, activate the new cloaking device!

{So'wI' chu'} "the new cloaking device"
{yIchu'} "activate it!"

You do have to pay attention and rely on the context.   By itself, {So'wI' 
chu'} can also be translated as "He/She/It activates the cloaking device", 
{chu''a' DIr 'In} as "Does the drum activate it?", {chu' wor'Iv} as "Worf 
is new", {yIchu'} as "Be new!" or "Play it!" or "Activate it!", etc.  The 
context will almost always tell you which translation makes sense and which 
translation is nonsense.  Fortunately, people rarely say or write anything 
without a context in real life - outside of bare examples in grammar books 
and language mailing lists that is!



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



Back to archive top level