[84042] in tlhIngan-Hol
KKS, Title and brief intro
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (naHQun)
Thu Jan 24 13:43:58 2008
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:41:08 -0500
From: naHQun <nahqun@gmail.com>
To: "tlhIngan Hol mailing list" <tlhIngan-Hol@kli.org>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
First off, just for etiquette, the following e-mail (and related
e-mails to follow) may
contain material that some may find inappropriate, namely of a sexual nature.
If you are offended by such things, by all means delete the e-mail
(you won't offend me by doing so)
Second, unless I change my mind I'll be starting all of these e-mails
with the Subject of "KSS" short for "Klingon Kama Sutra". Why? Because
a lot of you are at work and I'd hate for your boss to walk by when an
e-mail marked "Kama Sutra" pops up in your in-box.
Third, depending on how your SPAM filter works, it may scan the
contents of these messages, and suck them into your SPAM folder-be on
the lookout.
-=-=-
Brief intro:
The Kama Sutra (or Kamasutra) is an ancient text from India (saying
Indian in American English also implies Native Americans) written in
Sanskrit in the 3rd or 4th century by Vatsyayana.
The story goes: It was first translated in to English by some British
guys who repeatedly came across mentions to Vatsyayana and the Kama
Sutra while working on various other translation projects. They
inquried who this guy was and were told that the Kama Sutra was the
ultimate book of love and that no library in India was complete
without a copy, however, it was almost impossible to find the complete
text (hmmm...). So basically they called all the libaries and checked
out thier copies, compared them to each other, made their own master
text to translate from, and went forward.
Modern translators aren't too fond of this translation, not because of
the way they made thier master text, but because of the translation
itself.
Modern translators have had to do similar things to get their "master
text" to translate from.
In preparing this Klingon translation, I too have gone to my library,
and checked out their copies of the Kama Sutra (libraries carry the
oddest stuff), and are comparing them (along with the footnotes and
various commentaries and explanations) to prepare a "master text" with
which to translate from. Normally I would frown on such a practice,
but it fits with the history of the text. I would also normally frown
upon a translation of a translation, but I don't speak (or read)
Sanskrit. If someone else on the list does, and they'd like to
contribute-I'd appreciate it.
Luckily, the translators kept the text in verse form, and even took
the time to number them (which helps when comparing texts). When
presenting my translation, I'll keep the verses numbered.
The title:
Kama can mean "desire/love/pleasure/sex/sexuality" and Sutra can mean
"a treatise/written in a condensed versified form/thread" It's also
said to be "the study of Kama" or the "science of Kama". (if you
bother to search the web, I'm sure they'll give even MORE meanings to
both of these words)
There is no simple way in Klingon to convey ALL of those meanings. So
we'll need to come as close as we can. (There's also the option of
leaving it as "Kama Sutra", it seems to work just fine in English).
desire-neH
love-parmaq
pleasure-bel
sex-ngagh/nga'chuq
sexuality-?
treatise-ghItlh?
written in a condensed versified form-?
thread-SIrgh? tlhegh?
science-QeD
While ngaghQeD might be an easy way to put it, it's quite more than that.
Contrary to popular belief, the Kama Sutra is not a "sex manual".
Maybe parmaqQeD or parmaq paq?
In Middle School English, sometimes we were taught to give our stories
a title AFTER we wrote them.
It may be that I'll need to translate the majority of the text before
an accurate title comes forth. We'll see.
(But don't let that stop you from giving suggestions.)
~naHQun
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Modern playwrights have become obsessed with writing human
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our own unique cultural heritage.~Bashir; "The Die is Cast" (DS9)
