tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 15 08:27:01 2004
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Re: "Enterprise" lines
ter'eS:
>Does anyone follow "Star Trek: Enterprise"? Brent Spiner has been on a
>3-episode story arc. This week's episode included some Klingon. Archer
>and the Enterprise are trying to sneak through Klingon space to defeat
>some mutants, when they are accosted by a Klingon battle cruiser. Archer
>tries to talk his way out of it, and isn't having much success, so Spiner
>says to let him try, and he says
>
>{quv lughaj *archer qu'(?) beqDaj je.} "Captain Archer and his crew are
>honorable people."
>
>{lengtaH 'e' yIchaw'.} "Let them continue on their way."
lay'tel:
>>>{HoD} would fit where the odd {qu'} is. Maybe it's just a mispronunciation.
>>>It's an odd way to express it though. {quv lughaj} (they have honor) would
>>>be more directly expressed by the bare verb {quv} (be honored, honorable):
>>>{quv *archer* HoD beqDaj je.}
I didn't hear {qu'} at all, but maybe I was distracted by the Closed
Captions as they flashed on the screen:
Quv lughaj Archer HoD beqDaj je.
Uh... LengtaH 'e' yIchaw'.
I was astonished. Correctly formed and spelled (except for capitalizing
the first word of each sentence, which the captioner probably did out of
habit).
>{lengtaH 'e' yIchaw'.} "Let them continue on their way."
>
>This is a very odd scene. For one thing, it doesn't impress the Klingon
>commander at all (who doesn't even deign to respond in Klingon to Spiner's
>words). It accomplishes absolutely nothing in terms of the story.
Lady K'Lyssia:
>>Something to remember about that scene - was the universal translator was
>>being used. And, that was the thing that really made the scene make even
>>less sense to me. The Klingon Captain was hearing Archer's words in
>>Klingon - so why would Doctor Soogn's (sp) use of Klingon make a difference
>>there. And of course we heard the reply in Federation Standard - again the
>>translator.
I had the same thought. In fact, the Klingons apparently can't tell that
they're listening to the new and improved Universal Translator - it had
recently been programmed with "seven Klingon dialects" according to
Hoshi. Remember the other Klingon ship commander didn't know he was
listening to the UT when Archer bluffed his way through a restricted star
system. Also, why would Soong think that this Klingon commander would
listen to him anyway?
ter'eS:
>So I think this was a nod to the Klingon community from someone, probably
>Spiner. The lines are grammatically correct (except for the {qu'}, which
>I can't account for), and he speaks them pretty well. Does anyone know if
>Brent Spiner is a secret fan of tlhIngan Hol?
Someone definitely is. This scene was actually a follow-up to the first of
the three-episode Augment arc ("Borderland"), when Soong warns Archer:
"Take my advice. Go home and start learning how to speak Klingon."
Hmm... did Arik Soong learn Klingon in jail as a diversion from all his
genetic engineering scribbling?
ngabwI':
> >> {quv lughaj *archer qu'(?) beqDaj je.} "Captain Archer and his crew are
> >> honorable people."
> >
> >Maybe this was meant as "Fierce Captain Archer", like he's talking the cap
> >up, maybe? Just a suggestion.
lay'tel:
>>>{HoD} would fit where the odd {qu'} is. Maybe it's just a mispronunciation.
>>>It's an odd way to express it though. {quv lughaj} (they have honor) would
>>>be more directly expressed by the bare verb {quv} (be honored, honorable):
>>>{quv *archer* HoD beqDaj je.}
lay'tel:
>{HoD} would fit where the odd {qu'} is. Maybe it's just a mispronunciation.
>It's an odd way to express it though. {quv lughaj} (they have honor) would
>be more directly expressed by the bare verb {quv} (be honored, honorable):
>{quv *archer* HoD beqDaj je.}
quv lughaj Archer HoD beqDaj je.
"Captain Archer and his crew are honorable people."
Well, it's grammatically correct (note the correct verb prefix {lu-}! -
except for the unattested idiom {quv ghaj}. And even that's not completely
off the wall, as we do have other idioms with {ghaj}:
pIch vIghajbe'
It's not my fault. TKD
Hov ghajbe'bogh ram rur pegh ghajbe'bogh jaj
A day without secrets is like a night without stars. PK
tlham ghaj
"have gravity" [slang for "have structure, order" (KGT 165)]
ngabwI':
> >I didn't see this epi. Was the Klingon good and clear? Or was it more of
> the
> >usual?
Spiner's pronunciation was surprising clear, if somewhat hesitant - as if
he were remembering lines phonetically in a language he doesn't speak, like
Kelsey Grammer did in that Frasier episode. Spiner/Soong even says "Well,
I tried" after the Klingon commander ignored his efforts to help.
Tyler:
>The pronunciation was off in several places, but let's
>not nitpick. The point is they were properly formed
>sentences and not the usual Paramount Hol. We should
>be thrilled that for once someone over there actually
>took the time to use the dictionary properly.
ter'eS:
>I agree. In fact, if we could figure out who's responsible
>for them, maybe an official KLI thanks would be in order.
Because they were so well done, I looked for Okrand's name in the end
credits, but it wasn't listed. I wonder who did translate these two
lines? Did someone from Paramount contact the KLI for once?
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons