[98996] in tlhIngan-Hol
[Tlhingan-hol] Long and short sentences in English and Klingon
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (lojmIt tI'wI' nuv 'utlh)
Mon Jun 23 07:13:07 2014
From: lojmIt tI'wI' nuv 'utlh <lojmitti7wi7nuv@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 07:12:53 -0400
To: tlhIngan Hol mailing list <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@kli.org
Since the topic arose quite naturally on this list recently, I thought that=
it might be good to illustrate how, in English, remarkably long sentences =
are easily supported because of English=92s use of =93helper words=94 to gi=
ve you local context for the grammar of each phrase within the sentence so =
that, while your attention may wander while parsing unusually long sentence=
s, these nearby words give you the necessary clues to interpret the grammar=
while deriving meaning from a series of words that require so much time to=
read, to write, to speak, or to listen to that you requite these clues les=
t the totality of that single thought being expressed by the sentence ruptu=
re under the time-related weight of the peculiar expression created by the =
sentence=92s author while constructing it.
Klingon, on the other hand, uses word position with a limited number of =93=
slots=94, and Type 5 noun suffixes or Type 9 verb suffixes to give you the =
grammatical function of each word. Basically, you have the beginning of a s=
entence where time stamps always go, adverbials always go, locatives always=
go, and phrases constructed around Type 9-suffixed verbs usually go (with =
a couple of exceptions), then you have the object noun (or the noun phrase =
marked by a {-bogh}-suffixed verb for a relative clause), then the main ver=
b (and as in The Highlander, =93There Can Be Only One=94), then the subject=
noun (or the noun phrase marked by a {-bogh}-suffixed verb for a relative =
clause), and then maybe one of those exceptional verb phrases where the ver=
b has a Type 9 suffix. Oh, and I guess you can count verb conjunctions that=
combine two sentences, if you really have to. That=92s pretty much it in t=
erms of places to put words to construct a Klingon sentence (except for com=
parison sentences, which have an even more limited word-position-defined gr=
ammatical layout completely unrelated to anything else in Klingon grammar).=
Klingon doesn=92t give you the kind of near-each-word help you need to par=
se each sentence phrase in the sentence without a reference to the overall =
map of the word within the sentence, and there=92s less redundancy of clues=
. Add that word order is so much less flexible in Klingon.
Most of the other suffixes in Klingon tune the meaning of the word, but do =
not affect its grammatical function in the sentence, resulting in a very fe=
w methods to indicate what a word is doing in a Klingon sentence, requiring=
that you break down longer English sentences while translating them into K=
lingon.
I=92m sure there are exceptions to the basic layout of Klingon grammar here=
, like the extension of one sentence to include another in a Sentence As Ob=
ject construction, or like a quotation, though arguably, Klingons may not c=
onsider either of these constructions to be single sentences, since we do n=
ot know anything about Klingon punctuation. The punctuation we use with our=
Romanized alphabet is really a phonetic notation of what Klingon sounds li=
ke, rather than a representation of how Klingon is written. For all we know=
, pIqaD uses a new line for each sentence or they may simply not notate any=
division between sentences, and there may be no equivalent of a period.
I just woke up and am not quite firing on all cylinders. A dream drove me t=
o write this.
Just keep in mind that if you decide to translate this message into Klingon=
, be prepared to either mercilessly edit out a lot of detail, or break thin=
gs down into smaller =93complete thoughts=94 to define shorter sentences. T=
he whole concept of a =93complete thought=94 has remarkably vague and arbit=
rary boundaries in English, but in Klingon, the grammar has far less flexib=
le boundaries, though to be fair to the language, the number of suffix clas=
ses for nouns, but especially for verbs, allows ridiculous length to be app=
lied to single words far more than is common in English. Even German is cha=
llenged to come up with words long enough to compete with a Klingon verb wi=
th a complete or near-complete set of suffixes, and English definitely cann=
ot compete in this area with German.
So, when translating from English to Klingon, ignore the original sentence =
length and break down the ideas conveyed in the English into chunks that fi=
t within the Klingon grammatical structure. Also, consider that it is not i=
n the cultural character of Klingons to ramble to the degree that English s=
peakers are inclined, and so it is acceptable to carve away unnecessary det=
ail to get to the nut of what the Klingon translation should be expressing.
In My Humble Opinion.
Have a nice day (which I wouldn=92t be writing, if I were writing in Klingo=
n)
lojmIt tI=92wI=92 nuv =91utlh
Door Repair Guy, Retired Honorably
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