tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 30 08:27:47 2007
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for August 22, 2007
At 09:40 PM Wednesday 8/29/2007, po'mIn wrote:
>{malja' ngaqwI'mey qep'a'}
>"Stockholder Meeting"
charghwI' has used *{jeSwI'} "participant" for member, e.g. {tlhIngan Hol
yejHad jeSwI'} "member of the KLI".
>pInqu': {chuS'a' ghIlab ghewmey?}
>Big Boss: "Do we have any questions from gadflies?"
{-qu'} is a verb suffix; use the noun suffix {-'a'}. If you don't like
{pIn'a'} "master", try {pIn tIn} "big boss". (FYI *{pIntIn} was Glen
Proechel's fan name, which he also translated as "director".)
Perfect use of {ghIlab ghew} though. <g>
>ghIlab ghew: {SochmaH cha''uy' bobajpu' 'ach Hut vatlhvI' wIlujpu'.
>Gadfly: "You earned 72 Million dollars while our stock price
> dropped nine percent."
If the Big Boss personally earned $72,000,000 then use the prefix {Da-}
"you (singular) [do something] to them"; if the Gadfly is referring to the
entire board of directors, {bo-} "you (plural) [do something] to them" is fine.
Also, 72 million what? You omitted the unit of currency. Might as well
use {DeQ} "credit" or just transliterate *{Dolar}.
{luj} is "fail, lose (not win)":
To a Klingon, to win is to function perfectly [{Qapchu'}]. The opposite
notion, "lose", is commonly {luj}, also meaning fail. (HQ 2.4:18)
The slang expression is used in such constructions as {bIvonlu'pu'} ("You
have failed completely"; literally, "You have been trapped"). In standard
Klingon, the same idea may be expressed by saying {lujbej} ("certainly
fail"),
{lujchu'} ("fail perfectly"), or {lujqu'} ("really fail"), all based on
{luj} ("fail"). Note that {luj} is also used to mean "lose" (as in "lose at
a game"). To say "I lose" is {jIluj}; to say "I lose in a big way" is
{jIlujqu'} or {jIlujchu'}. (KGT 165-66)
None of the known examples of {luj} take an object:
lujpu' jIH
I have failed. TKD
lujpu' jIH'e'
I, and only I, have failed. TKD
bIlujlaHbe'chugh bIQaplaHbe'
If you cannot fail, you cannot succeed.
("If you cannot lose, you cannot win"; i.e. Nothing ventured, nothing
gained). TKW
wo' choqmeH may' DoHlu'chugh lujbe'lu'
"ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat." TKW
We also have {chIl} "lose, misplace" which I'm not sure is any better:
tlhonchaj chIljaj
May they lose their nostrils! TKD
Also 9 percent of what? I admit "stock price" is tough. How about
something like {malja'maj lo'laHghach} "the value of our business". Other
verbs to play with include {lo'laH} "be valuable", {lo'laHbe'} "be
worthless", {wagh} "be expensive", {qutlh} "be cheap".
>ghIlab ghew: quv DaHutlh ram bIQongDI'.}
>Gadfly: How can you sleep at night?"
Usually the dependent clause is first, but it's not required.
{-DI'} is "when, as soon as". There are too many examples to cite, but
this generally refers to a particular moment of time occurring (e.g.
{bIQongchoHDI'} "when/as soon as you fall asleep"). Use {-vIS} "while,
when, during": {bIQontaHvIS} "while you are sleeping":
bIQontaHvIS quv DaHutlh.
Hmm... does he lack honor only when he sleeps? You can translate it more
literally:
qaStaHvIS ram chay' bIQonglaH?
How can you sleep during the night?
Or combine the two ideas:
quv DaHutlh! qaStaHvIS ram chay' bIQonglaH?
You lack honor! How can you sleep during the night?
And, although it's not in the original, a Klingon would probably use an
appropriate epithet:
quv DaHutlh! petaQ, chay' bIQonglaH, petaQ?
You lack honor! P'tak, how can you sleep?
>pInqu': {(tlhtlhtlh...)}
>Big Boss: "(zzzzz)"
FYI: "To breathe even more noisily, or snore, is {wuD}." (HolQeD 12.4:8)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons