[Tlhingan-hol] qo''e' tu'bogh pagh - 'ay' chorgh

[Felix Malmenbeck]

I wish there were a good way to distinguish between "nothing" and "nothingness" in Klingon. I'd like to say taHlaHbe' pagh ("A nothingness cannot endure"), or 'u' SIQlaHbe' pagh ("A nothingness cannot endure the universe"), but unfortunately, that may be interpreted as "Nothing can survive" or "Nothing can endure the universe" (which has some truth to it, but is not what Spock wants to express).

If one is to go with Qov qech of recasting it to something more Klingon:y, then perhaps:

yanwI' poQ yan - A sword needs a wielder.
lo'laHbe' yanwI' Hutlhbogh yan'a' - A sword without a wielder is worthless
pagh jagh HoH yan yanlu'be'bogh - A sword not wielded slays no foe
HeghmoHlaHbe' yan yanchugh pagh - A sword cannot bring death if none wields it

pagh jaH jonta' Hutlhbogh Duj'e' - A ship without an engine goes nowhere
[I'd love to suggest HoD poQ Duj, but since the ship actually HAS a captain and that's not the position he's talking about, it seems rather inappropriate]

yaS poQ yaH - A duty station needs an officer
poQchuq yaH yaS je - A duty station and an officer need each other
poQchuq yaS Qu' je - A mission and an officer need each other

...or the classic:
'etlh QorghHa'lu'chugh ragh 'etlh nIvqu' 'ej jejHa'choH.
"Even the best blade will rust and grow dull unless it is cared for."

I'd love a good old Klingon truism, perhaps something like chIm HIq Hutlhbogh HIvje''e' {A glass without drink is empty}, or HIvje' chImvo' tlhutlhlaH pagh {Noone can drink from an empty glass}, or even pagh Soj SoplaH pagh {Nobody can eat no food} but that feels extremely un-Spock:y.

________________________________________
From: Robyn Stewart [robyn at flyingstart.ca]
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 00:43
To: Gaerfindel; tlhingan-hol at stodi.digitalkingdom.org
Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] qo''e' tu'bogh pagh - 'ay' chorgh

I would cast further than that. I don't see that "nature abhors a
vacuum" is especially relevant to Spock's nepotism here. He's just
saying that he wants there to be a succession, and trying to
encapsulate it in a pithy saying. I might go with Dal pagh jagh, but
mataHmeH maSachnIS, and indeed many from TKW seem relevant here.

At 15:28 28/01/2012, Gaerfindel wrote:
>On 1/28/2012 5:31 PM, De'vID jonpIn wrote:
>>
>>Does anyone want to volunteer to translate this next chunk?  Or,
>>how about if we do it by committee?  I found it really hard to
>>express some of these ideas: "nature abhors a vacuum", "turning
>>points in history", "the universe unfolds", "logic is the beginning
>>of wisdom"... yikes.
>
>I tried recasting "nature abhors a vacuum."  {tlheDDI' wa'DIch
>'elnIS cha'DIch.}
>
>
>~quljIb
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