tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 06 08:46:32 2007
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Re: Facing the challenge
mIq'ey:
> >>> It seems to me that the most straightforward Klingon
> >>> translation of "to face a challenge" would involve
> >>> using {qaD} as both noun and verb. I understand that
> >>> Klingon is not as averse to repetition as English, but
> >>> I wonder if there might be alternatives.
ghunchu'wI':
> >>Depending on what the situation is, I might say either
> >>{vay' qaDlu'} or {qaD'egh vay'}.
Voragh:
> >If the challenge is dangerous, we have {Qob qaD} "face/challenge danger":
> >
> > nIteb Qob qaD jup 'e' chaw'be' SuvwI'
> > A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone. TKW
> >
> >and if it's an internal or spiritual challenge, we have {qa' patlh chav}
> >"achieve/attain a spiritual rank/level/standing":
> >
> > qaSDI' nenghep, qa' patlh chu' chav tlhIngan SuvwI'
> > The Age of Ascension marks a new level of spiritual attainment
> > by a Klingon warrior. S9
mIq'ey:
>I framed my question badly. ghunchu'wI' is quite
>correct that "to face a challenge" could be rendered
>{vay' qaDlu'}, but this rather passive meaning of
>"face" (Compact OED: "to have (a difficult event or
>situation) in prospect") isn't what I really had in
For passive resistance - however non-Klingon the thought! - we have
{chergh} "tolerate" and especially {SIQ} "endure, bear":
'oy' DaSIQjaj
May you endure the pain! PK
yIn DayajmeH 'oy' yISIQ.
To understand life, endure pain. TKW
yIn nI' yISIQ 'ej yIchep
Live long and prosper! (Radio Times)
BTW {SIQ} may not be seen as a particularly weak action. {SIQwI'} is used
for the recipient of pain during the {nentay}:
SIQwI' lu'oy'moHmeH juppu'Daj 'oy'naQmey lo' chaH
The Painstik is employed by friends of the recipient... S32
which leads to "a new level of spiritual attainment".
>mind. I meant the more active sense of "face"
>(Compact OED: "confront and deal with") that you find
>in the sentence "we must face our fears". I think
>this is the "face" that is used to translate {qaD} in
>the TKW quote {nIteb Qob qaD jup 'e' chaw'be SuvwI'}.
>
>(I may be wrong, but even though KGT gives "face" as
>one translation of {qaD}, I doubt {qaD} really
>encompasses the passive sense of "face". All the
>other equivalents given ("challenge, resist, oppose,
>confront") share a quality of active defiance, so it's
>hard for me to imagine a Klingon using this verb to
>mean just "to expect [something bad] to happen".
>Maybe I'm assuming too much.)
>
>What I'm looking for is a way to express in Klingon
>the idea of someone confronting or dealing with the
>difficulties inherent in a situation. I think {qaD
>qaD} "he confronts the challenge" captures the basic
>idea.
"to challenge a challenge"??
Although Klingon does tolerate a greater level of repetition than English,
I don't think we've ever seen a verb used together with its homophonous
noun like this. (Can anyone think of any examples?)
> {Qob qaD} is a little too strong, in that the
>situation may be difficult but not dangerous (I don't
>imagine a Klingon would characterize a situation as
>dangerous if it really weren't, lest he appear
>cowardly, but again I may be assuming too much).
ghunchu'wI':
>Why not simply {qaD}?
I agree with ghunchu'wI'. {vay' qaD}
"challenge/resist/oppose/confront/face something/someone" seems perfectly
adequate to me. There may even be an idiom available that we haven't heard
of, similar to {ngup qaD}:
Someone unsatisfied with the status quo, a rebel, might be said
to want to {ngup qaD} ("challenge those in charge"; literally,
"challenge the cape"). [KGT 157]
but we'd have to ask Maltz. There's also the verb {'om} "resist, fend off"
and the slang term {Haq} "intervene in (a situation)".
>On the other hand {ghu' qaD} strikes me as possibly too
>weak. Can you really {qaD}
>(challenge/resist/oppose/confront) something as bland
>as a "situation"? Perhaps if the {ghu'} is {Qatlh}?
If you don't like {ghu'} "situation":
DopDaq qul yIchenmoH QobDI' ghu'
Set fire on the side when there is danger ("when the situation is
dangerous"). PK
ghu'maj Dayajbe'law', Sa'. ST6
"You don't seem to grasp our situation, General." (ST6 novel)
consider {wanI'} "phenomenon, event, occurrence":
Heghlu'DI' mobbe'lu'chugh QaQqu' Hegh wanI'
Death is an experience best shared. TKW
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons