[332] in tlhIngan-Hol
wa' notes revisited
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Tue May 19 11:37:03 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Michael Everson <EVERSON@IRLEARN.UCD.IE>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Tue, 19 May 92 13:59:17 GMT
Many thanks to Mark Shoulson for his comments on my revision of "wa'". I
review them here.
l. 1. pagh'a' might be understood 'anything at all'. I wouldn't change it
to -'e'. Again, I support the use of double negatives in Klingon.
Especially in the absence of a word for 'anything'.
l. 2. vIt naj ghap ghu'vam vISovbe' Groan. I now suggest:
'ach, muqaS'a' pagh vInaj'a'? Not particularly satisfying, but better
grammar.
l. 3. porghwI' should be emended to porghwIj here, and l. 7.
l. 8. 'oy'na'vam'a' should read 'oy''a'na'vam. I confused the place of -'a'
Type 1 nominal augmentative with -'a' Type 9 verbal interrogative. Or
maybe I thought it was a rover?
l. 10. Oops. It is clipped from the imperative you-me prefix HI-, not the
ordinary you-me prefix cho-.
13-14. The question is whether these two phrases need 'e' to link them.
Strictly speaking, yes, they should read:
jItu'qa' 'e' jIpIHlaHbe' 13 But can't look forward to reveal
jIyInqa' 'e' jItullaHbe' 14 Look to the time when I'll live
I-can-not-expect THAT I rediscover (I cannot expect that I (will) find out)
I-can-not-hope THAT I-live-again (I cannot hope that I (will) live again)
We have been making the assumption that all pronominals can be
clipped, not just the prefixes. However, I think (jItulqu'!) that
Klingon poets would do it even when others might not...
l. 22. choQaH should read HIQaH, as in line 10.
l. 27. neH Hurgh vIlegh vs. Hurgh neH vIlegh. Ah! Yes! Section 5.4 in the
grammar explains this quite well. But we have a problem. What is the
difference between 'I only see darkness' and 'I see only darkness'? I
think the former would be Hurgh vIlegh neH, and the latter Hurgh neH
vIlegh. Which is meant here? Hurgh neH vIlegh fits the song better,
so chosen it is.
l. 32. I knew I should have had -'e' (Section 6.2.5) for correct syntax in
bIghHa' 'oH porghHeywIj ('e'). Fortunately, Clipped Klingon "is used
quite extensively in all walks of Klingon life", especially when "a
Klingon is excited for some reason". That is certainly a fair
description of the timbre of Metallica's performance!
l. 33. Obviously tlhIl is out. I'd say there's probably a noun there
somewhere for 'hidden explosive', but for now it'll have to read just
jorwI'.
Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, E/ire
Phone: +353-1-706-2745 Fax: +353-1-283-7778
