tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 06 12:07:03 2004

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Re: KLBC boghmo' 'IHrIStoS malop

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Philip:
>But I suppose "They gave presents to them" could also mean "They gave
>presents to one another".

SuStel:
>I really think this is just a case where English can do something that
>Klingon can't.  There's no shame in that: it's the way languages are.
>ghunchu'wI' is absolutely right when he uses a different verb: /nobmey
>DItam/ "We exchanged gifts."  Don't insist on a direct translation when a
>recasting will do the job right.

Just to show that there are rarely any simple answers, here's our one 
example of {tam} "substitute, exchange" - used together with {nob} "give"! 
- in SkyBox S33:

boq lucherDI' tlhIngan wo' romuluS Hov wo' je So'wI' cham Suqpu' tlhIngan wo'.
  chaq tampu'.  chaq romuluSnganpu'vaD pIvghor cham lunobpu' tlhInganpu'.
Cloaking technology was gained through an alliance with the Romulan Star 
Empire,
  possibly in exchange for warp drive technology.

Literally: "When the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire established 
an alliance, the Klingon Empire acquired cloaking device 
technology.  Perhaps they exchanged.  Perhaps the Klingons gave warp drive 
technology to the Romulans."

Interestingly, {tam} doesn't seem to have an object here.  It would make 
more sense to put {chaq tampu'} after the sentence about warp technology, 
but that might just be me.  If you do move it to the end, however, you 
could translate it transitively as "they (i.e. the Romulans and the 
Klingons) exchanged them (i.e. cloaking and warp technology)".



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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