tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 29 12:00:03 2004

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

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

Re: Help with bible verse

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

weQqul:
> > lalDan vay' jIHarbe' 'ach Har latlh vay' vIvuvlaH.
> > i do not believe in any particular religion, but I respect others beliefs.
> >  any idea how to say this? :)

We have no idea how Klingons talk about religion, so bear in mind that 
everything which follows is pure speculation.  First, some vocabulary for 
weQqul:

{lalDan} "(a) religion"
{pagh lalDan} "no religion" (lit. "zero religion")

{vay' lalDan} "someone's religion" [note word order]
{latlh vay' lalDan} "someone else's religion" ("another somebody's"?)

{ghot lalDan} "a person's religion"
{latlh ghotpu' lalDan} "other people's religion"

{lalDan le'} "special/exceptional religion" [this probably doesn't work for 
"particular"]

ngabwI':
>I'm not sure what the appropriate verb is to use with {lalDan}, as I don't
>think we've ever seen it in canon. I would go with {ghaj} "have", but I'm
>not completely certain about it:

Well, {ghaj} "have, possess" can be used with abstract (i.e. intangible) 
concepts:

   pIch vIghajbe'
   It's not my fault. TKD

   tlham ghaj
   "have gravity" [slang for have structure, order" (KGT 165)

as well as its antonym {Hutlh} "lack, be without, to not have":

   quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh
   A Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. TKW

   'ang'eghQo' quv Hutlhbogh jagh neH ghobtaHvIS ghaH
   Only an enemy without honor refuses to show himself in battle. TKW

   nab Hutlh 'ach vang
   He/she lacks a plan, but he/she takes action (i.e. He/she improvises) KGT

But instead of {ghaj}, we have better options:

{voq}  "trust, have faith in" [probably better than {Har} which means 
"believe", not "believe in"; the only object we've seen {Har} take is a 
person: {qaHarbe'} "I don't believe you" (KGT)]

{pab}  "follow (rules, customs)"

   qorDu' lurDechmeyna' pab tlhInganpu'
   With strong [Klingon] family traditions... S13

   batlh ghob yIpab
   Adhere to virtue honorably. TKW

   The Klingon verb in the expression, {pab}, is here translated "adhere",
   but it is also used to mean "follow", in the sense of following rules,
   suggesting perhaps that, though not officially laws, virtues should be
   followed as if they were.  (TKW 47)

>   {lalDan vIghajbe', 'ach latlh lalDan vIvuvlaH.}
>   "I don't have a religion, but I can respect others' religions."

{latlh lalDan} means "another religion, an additional religion" not 
"another person's religion".  You need to specify {latlh ghot} or {latlh 
nuv} "another person".  And both are different from {lalDan pIm} "another 
(a different) religion".

Now, putting this all together:

   lalDan vIvoqbe' 'ach latlh ghotpu' lalDan vIvuvlaH.
   I don't have faith in religion, but I can respect other people's 
religion(s).

or

   lalDan vIpabbe' 'ach latlh ghotpu' lalDan vIvuvlaH.
   I don't follow (a) religion, but I can respect other people's religion(s).

   pagh lalDan vIpabbe' 'ach latlh ghotpu' lalDan vIvuvlaH.
   I don't follow any religion, but I can respect other people's religion(s).

I think the last version with {pab} work best.

BTW, the opposite of {pab} is either {bIv} "break (rules)" or, even better, 
{pabHa'} "misfollow (the rules), follow (the rules) wrongly)", which is a 
nice way to describe deviant, heretical or sectarian behavior.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

Back to archive top level