tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 07 11:28:48 2002
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Re: [KLBC] is there a word for 'attend'?
[email protected] writes:
> > But for a mere "attend school", I still prefer my original translation.
peHruS replies:
>And I do not. So, now you know what I disagree with. The matter being
>"attend school," I truly do not like DuSaQ[Daq] jaH. I far prefer either
>DuSaQDaq ghoj or DuSaQDaq HaD. The reasoning I use is "translating the
>meaning, not just the words."
I don't always agree with peHruS's interpretations, but in this case I
do. {jaH} "go" is not used in any Klingon idiomatic expression that we've
seen; it's merely a general verb of motion, like {ghoS} "approach, proceed"
or {leng} "travel". Here are all the examples of {jaH} from canon I know of:
pa'Daq yIjaH
Go to the room! (TKD 27)
pa'vo' yIjaH
Leave the room! ("Go from the room!") TKD
jolpa'Daq yIjaH
Go to the transport room! (Clipped: jolpa' yIjaH) TKD
jolpa' yIjaH. Qapla'!
To the transport room. Success! ST3
teplIj yIwoH 'ej pa'lIjDaq yIjaH
Pick up your baggage and go to your room. CK
naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'
Can we get to the Great Hall from here? PK
may'Daq jaHDI' SuvwI' juppu'Daj lonbe'
When a warrior goes to a battle, he does not abandon his friends. TKW
'Iw bIQtIqDaq jIjaH
I travel the river of blood. TKW
The only even slightly idiomatic use is in this last example, which is part
of the declaration a young warrior makes at his or her Second Rite of
Ascension. Based on the other examples, however, this could also be
translated as "I travel to the river of blood". Either way, this usage may
not be idiomatic, so much as metaphorical - depending on what exactly the
"river of blood" means in Klingon warrior tradition.
So, if you're referring to simple motion, {jaH} is appropriate:
nuqDaq bIjaH?
Where are you going?
DuSaQDaq jIjaH
I'm going to school. I go to the school.
If however you're trying to use the idiom "go to school" (i.e. attend
school), then {jaH} is not appropriate:
bIvum'a'?
Do you work?
*ghobe', DuSaQDaq jIjaHtaH.
*No, I'm still "going to school".
A Klingon would understand this literally as "I continue to go to the
school" and would, no doubt, ask the follow-up question:
qatlh DuSaQDaq bIjaH?
Why are you going to the school?
Translating idioms is always tricky, but the first step is to recognize
idioms in the first place. This is sometimes hard to do since we use so
many of them in English.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons