tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Aug 31 10:00:21 2007
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for August 23, 2007
At 06:29 PM Thursday 8/30/2007, po'mIn wrote:
> Dilbert: "When I was a boy I dreamed of one day working in a
> fabric-covered box."
> DIlbot: {puq jIHtaHvIS ngaSwI' qoDDaq jIvum 'e' vItul.}
Although we don't have a word for fabric or cloth ({Sut} "clothing" is the
closest AFAIK), {ngaSwI'} is a little general. We know that Klingons do
have boxes - during the Kot'baval Festival at the Maranga IV outpost,
Alexander wanted some money from his father to give to a man who offered to
show him Molor's head in a box (TNG "First Born") and in 2153 the Klingon
Judiciary placed a bounty of 9000 darseks for the capture of escaped
convict Jonathan Archer, dead or alive, which appeared to be metal bars,
app. 1 x 3 inches in size, transported in a box (ENT "Bounty") - and Okrand
has written about them:
The word for "top" is {yor}. This refers to the top side or top face
of an object, such as the top of a box or the top of a table or even
the top of one's head. It is not the word used for lid or cover or cap
(as in lid of a jar) or removable (and reusable) top of a box. The word
for this kind of top or lid or cover is {yuvtlhe'} [...] The word for
"bottom," the counterpart of {yor}, is {pIrmuS}. This word refers to the
underside of something, not the interior bottom (such as the bottom of a
well or the bottom of a bowl where a few drops of milk remain after
eating cereal). The word for the interior bottom of something is {bIS'ub}.
If an item is located in the bottom of a box, it is located in the box's
{bIS'ub}. If something is found underneath a box, it is found beneath
the box's {pIrmuS}. (HolQeD 8.3)
We do however have the noun {meyrI'} meaning "square" (the shape). E.g.:
meyrI'Daq 'oHtaH gho'e'
The circle is in the square. [qep'a' 2005]
Working "inside a square" has almost the same feel as working "in a box",
particularly when you use {qoD} "inside, interior":
puq jIHtaHvIS meyrI' qoDDaq jIvum 'e' vItul.
> Dilbert: "I'm living proof that dreams can come true."
> DIlbot: {tul vaj chaq teHchoH 'e' tobpu' yInwIj.}
"he hopes thus/therefore my life has tested conclusively that perhaps it
comes true" ???
I'm not sure I understand how the three clauses connect here.
BTW, you can't use a perfective suffix on {tob}:
In complex sentences of this type [i.e. S1 {'e'} S2], the second verb never
takes an aspect suffix. (section 4.2.7)" (TKD 66f)
{-chu'} would work just as well: {... 'e' tobchu' yInwIj} "my life clearly
proves that ..."
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons