[891] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: transitivity and "They Call the Wind 'Mariah'"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Mon May 17 03:15:39 1993
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Captain Krankor <krankor@codex.prds.cdx.mot.com>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Fri, 14 May 93 15:40:33 -0400
marqoSvo':
> qama'pu' jonta' neH!
>which was subtitled:
> I wanted prisoners!
>was actually a translation of the original line from the script:
> I told you, "Engine only!"
>And it didn't change until the subtitles were added. Okrand's reaction, after
>pulling out some hair, was to make additions to the language so the translatio
n
>worked - namely the -pu' plural suffix, the -ta' accomplishment suffix,
>and the words qama' (prisoner) and jon (capture), as well as the concept of
>Clipped Klingon. Amazing what can come out of one small change...
I knew that was essentially the deal, but I never knew all the
details. One thing has me puzzled, though. In order for all this
to be true, it looks like qama'pu' was supposed to mean "I told
you", meaning ma' must mean "to tell". But ja' is "to tell"; ma' is
"to accommodate". Did he change this as well?
Also, Clipped Klingon must certainly have existed before this. I
know Okrand started by taking the stuff from STI, hence, for
instance, the word baH for "to fire". But the captain in that film
certainly says "baH!", not "yIbaH!". It looks more like the role of
Clipped was expanded to fit qama'pu' jonta' neH.
By the way, kudos to Okrand for 1) Taking the trouble to make the
script change work and 2) doing it in such *fine* fashion. It's
really interesting to discover that one of my favourite language
features (the -ta'/-pu' distinction) was part of this after-the-fact
kludgy backfit. Did he add -lI' at the same time? For that matter,
if he had to add the -pu' plural suffix, did he add -Du' at the same
time?
--Krankor
