tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 01 17:02:58 2005

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Re: unique Klingon

QeS lagh ([email protected])



ghItlhpu' juDmoS:

>I was trying to come up with a way to say "unique" in Klingon...and have 
>had some difficulty. I decided to ask in this forum. The actual phrase I 
>was working on is from Jimmy Buffet's book, "A Salty Piece of Land". The 
>quote was something to do with "the aboriginal belief that..."life's 
>adventures are the verses and choruses of your unique song, and when it is 
>over, you are dead."

Voragh and ghunchu'wI' have already given good suggestions, so I'll restrict 
my reply to grammar only. :)

>  SoHvaD neH bom mu'mey chaH yInwIj ta'mey. taHbe'DI' bomlIj vaj vIHeghta'.

Despite the fact that there's no canon I can think of for {neH} with a noun 
+ type 5, I think it fits very well here.

A couple of things... First off, you've used {-wIj} "my" in one spot where 
you needed {-lIj} "your". Similarly, the prefix {vI-} means "I (do something 
to) it/him/her/them"; you'll need {bI-} "you + no object". (This may just 
have been a typo; I notice that the V and B keys are next to each other on 
the keyboard.)

Also in the first sentence, remember that {chaH} only refers to people or 
creatures capable of using language. {bIH} is what you want, which refers to 
everything else.

So all together: {SoHvaD neH bom mu'mey bIH yInlIj ta'mey. taHbe'DI' bomlIj 
vaj bIHeghta'}.

Now for some non-canonical opinions. :)

I would have used {taHbe'choHDI' bomlIj} "when your song stops enduring", 
which better captures the original sense, rather than just {taHbe'DI' 
bomlIj} "when your song does not endure".

Also, we've had some arguments before on exactly what {-ta'} is and where it 
can be used. I have to say that I wouldn't use {bIHeghta'}, I'd use 
{bIHeghpu'}. The way I view {-ta'} is that an agent is involved: something 
doesn't just get accomplished, something has to be accomplished by someone, 
so {vIHoHpu'} "I've killed him" (whether by accident or on purpose), but 
{vIHoHta'} "I've killed him" (after having actually set out to do so). 
That's just my take on it, but the only comparable example in canon is in 
the ST:V sentence {DIvI' Se' wI'IjtaHvIS DaH ngoqDe' wIHevta'} "we've just 
received an encoded message on the Federation frequency". Whether this is 
the case or not, I would still remain wary of using {-ta'} on intransitive 
verbs like this that have no agent: {bIHeghta'} "you have died" and 
{jIDoqta'} "I have been red" would only crop up in fairly unusual 
circumstances IMHO, and I don't think this is one of those times. Even 
without this issue, the tone of the quote doesn't seem to be referring to 
death as much of an accomplishment.

The upshot of all this: {bIHeghpu'} may well be better than {bIHeghta'} 
here, but make up your own mind on that.

</two_cents_worth>

>- (using the neH adverbial to modify the noun SoHvaD, so as to say "The 
>accomplishments
>of your life are words of a song only for you. When your song ceases to 
>endure, then you
>are dead.

Spoken like a true Klingon. :D The cultural notes Voragh posted show that 
song is a big part of Klingon life, so I'd think they'd understand the 
metaphor as well.

>I'm soliciting both advice on better ways to say this, and for ways to say 
>"unique". Any and
>all help of a constructive nature is appreciated.

I like Voragh's suggestion of {le'qu'}. {-qu'} has been used similarly in 
canon to augment an adjectival: {bortaS nIvqu' 'oH bortaS'e'} "revenge is 
the best revenge" (TKW p. 120), where {nIvqu'} "very superior" can be 
translated by "best".

Also, ghunchu'wI''s {bomlIj'e'} is accurate and neat. The only problem is 
that you can't use it in a noun-noun construction (so *{bomlIj'e' mu'mey} is 
ungrammatical). You'd have to recast - perhaps {bomlIj'e' mu'meyDaj bIH 
yInlIj Qu'mey} "as for your song, your life's missions are its words".

Savan,

QeS lagh
taghwI' pabpo' / Beginners' Grammarian


not nItoj Hemey ngo' juppu' qan je
(Old roads and old friends will never deceive you)
     - Ubykh Hol vIttlhegh

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