This is very interesting. The speaker is obviously an accomplished
Klingon speaker. This is not some Bozo yelling "ka-plaaaa!" like I
usually see on You-Tube.
Meanwhile, I'll go line by line, how I heard it (D:), how ghunchu'wI'
heard it (gh:), and how Hamlet said it (H:)
D: Dochchu' ghemwI'
gh: Dochchugh HemwI'
H: Dochchu' HemwI'
D: ruv memlu'
gh: ruv mImlu'
H: ruv mImlu'
D: tej ru' patlh
gh: qechrup patlh
H: tIchrup patlh
D: oy'moH muSHa'ghach
gh: 'oy'moH buSHa'ghach
H: 'oy'moH muSHa'ghach
D: 'Iv muSHa'lu'bogh
gh: 'Il buvHa'lu'bogh
H: 'Il vuvHa'lu'bogh
D: puvwI' qu' tuv
gh: quvwI'pu' tuv
H: quvwI'pu' tuv
D: quvHa'moH quvHa'wI'pu'
gh: quvHa'bogh quvHa'wI'pu'
H: quvHa'moH quvHa'wI'pu'
I believe ghunchu'wI' to be an extremely skilled Klingonist, and he
knew the source of the text. Likely, he was in the movie. He probably
even knows who was making this speech. Given those advantages, I feel
pretty good that I did about as well as he did at guessing what was
said, even though I couldn't understand it and couldn't figure out the
boundaries of the phrases, since they don't quite tie together out of
context into clear sentences. It is somewhat poetic and poetry is not
my strength.
Going back and listening again, I can hear {Dochchu' HemwI'}, though I
understand how I mistook it for {Dochchu' ghemwI'}. His {H} sound is
somewhat softer than I expect. I also see how ghunchu'wI' mistook
{Dochchu'} for {Dochchugh}, though that's not how I heard it.
{mImlu'} and {memlu'} are like "pin" and "pen". Dialects blur the line
and the difference can be subtle. I'm a southerner, so it is harder
for me. I've tried to differentiate more clearly than most, but my
north-born wife accuses me of using one vowel sound smack dab between
"i" and "e" when I say "pen" or "pin". This error of mine forces me to
reevaluate my lack of progress on this point.
Then again, ghunchu'wI' and I both missed {tIchrup patlh} replacing
the {I} with {e}, so maybe the speaker doesn't enunciate that vowel
difference all that well. I thought it was {tejrup patlh}, while
ghunchu'wI' thought it was {qechrup patlh}. I did get the opening
consonant better, but they are similar sounds from different parts of
the mouth. ghunchu'wI' got the closing consonant better. Like my
mistaking {H} for {gh} in the first sentence, I again misperceived a
voiced version of the consonant, mistaking a {ch} for a {j}.
Listening again, {tIch} definitely sounds more like {tech} or {tej}
than it does like {tIch}.
ghunchu'wI' thought {muSHa'ghach} sounded like {buSHa'ghach}. He must
be from morSqa', right?
I see how I interpreted an eliding {v} in {'Il vuvHa'lu'bogh}, turning
it into {'Iv} and then basically hearing a mash of syllables that
sounded a lot like the other {muSHa'lu'bogh}. I don't feel too horrid
over this error.
I blew it on {quvwI'pu' tuv} thinking it was {puvwI'pu' tuv}.
Listening again now, I hear that he said it perfectly.
At the end, ghunchu'wI' reveals his Morskan roots by again replacing a
{m} with a {b}, and then making my sort of error interpreting a voiced
{H}, changing it to {gh}.
I had no idea it was Hamlet.
Anyway, I'm glad I did as well as I did. Thanks, ghunchu'wI'. You've
confirmed that my ear is not all that bad, despite the long time since
I've heard Klingon spoken.
Doq
On May 16, 2008, at 5:34 PM, ghunchu'wI' wrote:
> On May 16, 2008, at 2:25 PM, Doq wrote:
>
>> Anyway, I'm surprised that nobody has posted this to You-Tube yet.
>
> YouTube limits clips to a very few minutes. It doesn't accommodate
> longer videos.
>
>> I did find http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwkW0JLiAe0
>> [...]
>> It was really frustrating to hear what seemed like such well-
>> pronounced Klingon phonemes, yet to be so unable to make sense of
>> it...
>>
>> Anyway, it's beautiful sounding, but I can't make sense of it. Does
>> someone else have a transcription that makes more sense?
>
> I know exactly where to find the text, but I'm going to do it "the
> hard way" and write down what I hear first:
>
> Dochchugh HemwI' ruv mImlu'
> qechrup patlh 'oy'moH buSHa'ghach 'Il buvHa'lu'bogh
> quvwI'pu' tuv quvHa'bogh quvHa'wI'pu'
>
> "If a proud one is rude justice is delayed. Sincere ignorance which
> is misclassified hurts the status of a [qechrup]. The dishonored ones
> who dishonor the patient honored ones..."
>
> Now to go to the source:
>
> Dochchu' HemwI'; ruv mImlu'; tIchrup patlh;
> 'oy'moH muSHa'ghach 'Il vuvHa'lu'bogh;
> quvwI'pu' tuv quvHa'moH quvHa'wI'pu';
>
> (Hamlet, lut 'ay' wej, lut 'ay'Hom wa')
>
> "The proud one is perfectly rude; justice is delayed; rank is ready
> to insult; sincere hatred which is respected causes pain; dishonored
> ones dishonor the patient honored ones."
>
> I was pretty close.
>
> (By the way, the next line is {qatlh Hochvam lajqang vay'} "Why would
> anyone accept all of this?")
>
>
>