[86475] in tlhIngan-Hol
RE: Doctoral project on the Klingon language
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Thorwald Peeters)
Tue Sep 1 15:54:11 2009
In-Reply-To:
<C305E6BD33E2654DAE1F8F403247B6A6DC1CD1BA5D@EVS02.ad.uchicago.edu>
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 21:52:26 +0200
From: "Thorwald Peeters" <qlingon@xs4all.nl>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
<citaat van="Steven Boozer">
> Thorwald Peeters writes:
>>> QaHlaHlu', QaHlu' (I think... "when one can help, one helps")
>
> lay'tel SIvten:
>>pagh: QaHlaHlu'mo' QaHlu'
>
> Unfortunately {-laH} and {-lu'} are both Type 5 suffixes and can't be used
> together. There are, of course, the "totally artificial, made-up
> suffixes" {-luH} or {-la'} (described in TKD p.181) but, as Okrand warns:
>
> No one accepts such constructions as grammatical; their
> inappropriateness, the way they grate on the Klingon ear,
> is exactly what gives them elocutionary clout. A visitor
> may hear one of these odd suffixes occasionally, but, as
> with other intentionally ungrammatical forms, it is best
> to avoid using them until one is extremely comfortable
> with the nuances of Klingon style. [TKD 181]
>
> When translating phrases with the indefinite subject "one" I almost always
> use {bI-} or {Da-}, both of which are commonly seen in Klingon
> {vIttlheghmey}:
>
> bI'IQchugh yIvang.
> If you are sad, act! TKW
>
> bISutlhnISchugh jaghlI' mInDu' tIbej.
> If you must negotiate, watch your enemy's eyes. TKW
[...extensive sampling removed...]
> In fact, every one of these could easily have been translated "if one
> [does X]" with no loss in meaning. And so:
> bIQaHchugh, yIQaH!
> bIQaHmo', yIQaH!
> vay' DaQaHchugh, yIQaH!
> vay' DaQaHmo', yIQaH!
> When one can help, one helps. <g>
qatlho'.
jIghojjaj...
> --
> Voragh
> Canon Master of the Klingons
--
Thorwald Peeters
