[2457] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: A translation question
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed Jan 5 16:22:28 1994
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
From: Will Martin <whm2m@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 94 16:20:19 EST
On Jan 5, 2:18am, DSTRADER@delphi.com wrote:
> Subject: Re: A translation question
>
> charghwI'vaD:
>
> toH, your claim to the Klingon linguistic preference against pronominal
> verbs is well taken. Klingons do not BE, they DO. They ACT. So, in this
> spirit of activity, here's how I might render "It is good to be a Klingon."
>
> {QaQ tlhIngan yIn}
> ("Klingon's life is good")
>
> Guido#1, Leader of All Guidos
majQa'! vIparHa'qu'!
I know that some people may interpret it to mean "The Klingon's life is
good," but we have to recognize that Klingon has no articles, so unless you
say something like {tlhInganvetlh}, or otherwise point to a specific Klingon,
there is no way to isolate one Klingon, rather than speak about Klingons in
general. That's why we call it {tlhIngan Hol} and not {tlhInganpu' Hol} (the
topic of a misguided letter in the current HolQeD). When I hear the word
tlhIngan, it sounds like the word Cherokee; a description that carries the
sense of tribe or clan more than race. To say something of a Cherokee is to
say something of ALL Cherokee. A Cherokee's language is the language of all
Cherokee. The same is true of Klingon, and a Klingon's life is most naturally
interpreted as a generic term.
-- charghwI'
