[98209] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] The Legend of Gorath part 1
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Holt)
Sat Mar 22 11:36:54 2014
From: David Holt <kenjutsuka@live.com>
To: "tlhingan-hol@kli.org" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:36:40 -0500
In-Reply-To: <8D113F3BDDB7650-1A2C-499B8@webmail-m164.sysops.aol.com>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@kli.org
> From: gheyIl=A0
> You all make good points. I hadn't intended for {'oH} to refer to the =
> cave, but if Lieven read it that way, then so the better. English =
> sentence fragments come easily because of SVO, but with no 3rd person =
> prefix in Klingon, and the fact that the object comes first ... we'll =
> just have to wait for the some 1st generation speakers to show us how =
> it's done. :-) =
> =
> I want a ... ehm ... a beer. {vay' vIneH ... mm ... chaq HIq} =
So how do English speakers start a sentence when they haven't figured out t=
he subject yet? =A0Let's say a military commander wants to send someone on =
a mission, but he hasn't decided who yet. =A0He could say, "Someone is goin=
g on the mission ... mm ... perhaps Jones." =A0More likely, he's just going=
to wait until he has figured out how to start his sentence and then say, "=
Jones will go on the mission." =A0But a Klingon could start the sentence be=
fore he knows the subject: "{Qu' ta' ... mm ... malth.}"
When ordering food it is convenient that the thing being ordered is the las=
t thing in an English sentence so we can start the sentence before we know =
what we want. =A0"I will have ... a beer." =A0But I'm thinking a Klingon ju=
st wouldn't start the sentence until he knows the object.
Because English speakers learn to say the subject first, they think of the =
subject first. =A0So it seems natural to go ahead and start a sentence wher=
e you know the subject but haven't figured our the object yet. =A0I'm not a=
t this point yet, but I'm thinking that to really think in Klingon you have=
to learn to be able to think of the object first the way that English spea=
kers think of the subject first.
So then, how do you translate a sentence fragment from English. =A0You just=
have to accept that you won't be able to directly translate the fragment a=
s English and Klingon will use different fragments. =A0You could make a gue=
ss as to what the whole sentence would have been in English and translate a=
different fragment - and in that way force your interpretation of the frag=
ment on the listener. =A0Personally I prefer to come up with something gene=
ric enough that it is still open to the listeners' interpretation. =A0{'oH.=
..} worked great for that very reason. =A0Who knows what he was going to sa=
y before he realized it had gone into the cave? =A0Who cares? =A0He abandon=
ed that sentence!
Jeremy =
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