tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Sep 14 08:12:57 2007
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for August 28, 2007
>Dogbert: "I made a list of the customers that I want your products
> to injure."
>Doqbot: {je'wI'pu''e' rIQmoHbogh Dochra' vIneH qon tetlhvam.}
For making a list, use {gher} "compile". Okrand wrote on startrek.klingon
(7/09/1998):
The verb for "write" in the sense of "compose" is {qon}, literally
"record". This is used for songs and also for literary works (poems,
plays, romance novels, and so on). As has been pointed out, it's as
if the song or story is somehow out there and the "writer" comes into
contact with it, extracts it (to use Qov's nice phrase), and records it.
[...] [I]s everything that is written down the result of composition
(in the sense described above)? The answer is "not necessarily." There's
another verb, {gher}, which doesn't have a straightforward equivalent
in English, but which has sometimes been translated (not entirely
satisfactorily) as "formulate" or "compile" or "pull together". The
idea seems to be that of bringing thoughts together into some kind of
reasonably coherent form so that they can be conveyed to someone else.
Thus, one would usually say {naD tetlh gher} "he/she compiles the
Commendation List" or "he/she writes the Commendation List".
(Maltz laughed at, but accepted, {Soj tetlh gher} for "he/she
writes the grocery list".)
One would probably {gher}, rather than {qon}, a suggested list of
readings, a gazetteer, a simple menu, or the instructions for assem-
bling a toy (assuming the latter is not really an exercise in creative
writing). One might also say {QIn gher} "he/she formulates a message"
or, more colloquially, "he/she writes a message". But now it begins
to get tricky. Using {gher} here implies that the writer of the message
was passing along some information he or she got elsewhere, such as
scribbling down a telephone message. Saying {QIn qon} "he/she composes
a message" or "he/she writes a message" (literally "he/she records a
message") suggests that the writer is presenting some new information
as opposed to merely passing something along. It may also imply that the
written message has some sort of literary merit, and thus be a compliment.
But not always. {HIDjolev qon} "he/she composes the menu" suggests that
the speaker thinks the list of available fare is written with a certain
literary flair. This is not likely to be said of menus in Klingon
restaurants (whose menus, if posted at all, tend to be rather pithy),
and thus could easily be taken as an insult. Similarly, something like
{bom gher} "he/she formulates the song" would be taken as a disparaging
comment about the song or its composer (and is, in fact, sometimes heard
when the song in question is of non-Klingon origin).
So: {je'wI'(pu'} tetlh vIgher} "I made a list of customers, I made a
customer list". In this case I would definitely omit the plural suffix;
after all if there's only one name on it, it's not much of a list.
>Dogbert: "Your lawyer did a bad job on the contract."
>Doqbot: {batlh malja' mab qI'pu' chut Duyra'.}
"your legal agent signed the business treaty honorably"
I would understand this as meaning that he signed the contract in good
faith, perhaps implying that he was tricked by the other party. If you
really mean he wrote a bad contract, use {qon}. (I think {qon} is slightly
better than {gher} here. In theory at least, a contract simply records
("memorializes") the terms and conditions the two parties have agreed to.)
batlhHa' malja' mab qonpu' chut Duyra'.
Your business agent has written/recorded the business treaty dishonorably"
i.e. he tried to trick the other party.
malja' mab qonHa'pu' chut Duyra'.
Your business agent has mis-written/recorded the business treaty"
malja' mab gherHa'pu' chut Duyra'.
Your business agent has mis-compiled the business treaty"
i.e. he wrote it down wrong/made a mistake/misunderstood what you wanted
(to your disadvantage).
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons