tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 06 10:06:53 2011

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Re: country names (was Re: tato'eba' ...)

Robyn Stewart ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

qechtlheghvamvaD jIjangqa'be' 'e' vI'Ip, 'ach chojanqmoH.

bIlugh.

Do we have a FAQ where this can be preserved in perpetuity?

pItlh.

At 08:54 06/02/2011, you wrote:
>It gets me that the least experienced speakers are rarely content to 
>translate simple, meaningful sentences for their own use. More 
>commonly, they want to publish something for the whole world to 
>represent the rest of us (whether we like this or not) and it's 
>almost always poetry or large piles of transliterated words not in 
>our 2800 or so word vocabulary with the expansion provided by the affixes.
>
>I wish I had the time to do what these people shun. It's like it is 
>beneath them to actually participate in what the language does well. 
>They disrespect what ghunchu'wI' has done beautifully for the last 
>couple weeks, which is to speak Klingon well to describe something 
>clearly to people who have never witnessed what he is describing, 
>yet thanks to his obvious skill, others who know the language can 
>have an accurate mental image of the devices and events and people 
>that he is describing.
>
>THIS is how I'd like us represented to the world. If we have a 
>legacy, it should be that we have a functional language and we have 
>proven its functionality over and over. Not that we can add to a 
>pile of translations of things someone else wrote. Not that we can 
>write impenetrable "poetry" that makes most of us wince or roll our 
>eyes. That we can write and speak our own little jewel of a language.
>
>Note that I recognize the translation of Shakespeare's sonnets and 
>the verse portions of Hamlet are brilliant exceptions to my general 
>aversion to Klingon poetry. Translations of stories are generally 
>more valuable than translations of random sentences because the 
>story line forces the speaker to face challenges otherwise simple to 
>dodge in order to effectively tell the story in a way that holds together.
>
>The story is a larger unit of meaning. Beyond word, phrase, 
>sentence, paragraph or chapter is the story. You want to represent 
>us to history, making your mark on the history of this community? 
>Tell us stories (true or fictional) in our little jewel of a language.
>
>That is the highest challenge.
>
>lojmit tI'wI' nuv
>
>Sent from my iPod
>
>On Feb 6, 2011, at 4:47 AM, Lieven Litaer <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > we have discussed many times about transcribing or translating country
> > names and agreed not to do so.
> >
> > First, the problem is that every language prounounces a name different,
> > like french *parIy* or english *perIS*.
> >
> > second: if you want to "translate" a name (not only countries') into
> > Klingon, first think about how would you translate it into english? My
> > standard question for my students: What's "Pizza" in German?  :-)
> >
> > third, if you try to translate its meaning - how can you be sure that
> > every one knows and understands this meaning? Many people in Europe
> > don't even know what USA stands for... or would you accept {ngangwI' Hol
> > Sep} for "Germany"?
> >
> > jIlengtaHvIS, GermanyDaq jIleng. pa' Pizza vISop 'ej Cola vItlhutlh.
> > vIyajlu'bej 'ej moHbe' HolwIj.
> >
> > Qapla'
> >   Lieven.
> >
> > PS: please "like" this:
> > The qepHom is now on Facebook!
> > http://www.facebook.com/qepHom
> >
> >
> >
> >

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