tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 08 17:33:11 2002
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: "Floreat Majestas"
qe'San asked:
> > I have a question re prosper.. in TKD it's listed as
> > chep - prosper, be prosperous (v)
> > is it "(to) prosper" + "be prosperous" or just the latter.
marqoS:
>The two comma-separated translations are independent - each by
>itself is a translation of the Klingon. More than one is given
>solely to clarify the meaning, since there's frequently not a
>one-to-one match where the exact set of ideas encompassed by the
>Klingon word is also encompassed by a single English one.
>
>It just so happens that in the case of the adjective "prosperous", English
>also has a form that follows the Klingon model - the verb "to prosper".
>So the Klingon verb can be translated into English either way, and both
>forms are listed in the dictionary.
The more practical reason is simply to make looking words up easier. The
listing is "prosper, be prosperous - {chep}" in the English-to-Klingon side
so someone can find "prosper" under the P's. Remember, Okrand wrote The
Klingon Dictionary for general Trek fans, not merely for us
Klingonists. (In fact, before the 1st edition of TKD appeared, there were
no Klingonists to speak of!) Also, "prosper" is a particularly Trekkish
word, which is another reason Okrand no doubt included the variant form;
fans often want to know how to translate the Vulcan greeting "Live long and
prosper" into Klingon. Okrand has done it in two ways if you're interested:
yIn nI' yISIQ 'ej yIchep (Radio Times)
yItaH 'ej yIcheptaH (UPN Star Trek 25th Anniv Special)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons