[Tlhingan-hol] fiat justitia ruat coelum

[Bellerophon, modeler]

The Latin doesn't actually mean "Let justice be done, let the heavens
fall." Latin subjunctives don't have any fixed meaning. To translate it
literally, I'd put it "Justice be done, should the heavens fall." It is in
our power to do justice but not to control the heavens, so "let" makes more
sense with "justice be done." We use "let" with a sense of irony when we
say things like "Let it rain."

Can {-jaj} mean other than a wish that something happen? It could be used
ironically in a challenge I suppose, to translate something like "Molon
labe."
~'eD


On Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 11:58 PM, Rohan Fenwick <qeslagh at hotmail.com> wrote:

> ghItlhpu' De'vID, jatlh:
> > How would one translate "fiat justitia ruat coelum", i.e., "Let
> > justice be done though the heavens fall."
>
> I'm surprised you're basing your translation so heavily on the English.
> The Latin merely means "Let justice be done, let the heavens fall", with
> the connection between the two merely implied. I'd do it with nothing more
> than a conjunction:
>
> pumjaj Hov, 'ach rInjaj ruv.
> May the stars fall, but may justice be done.
>
> > My attempt:
> > {ruv chavlu'jaj, vabDot pumnISchugh Hovmey.}
> >
> > I'm not quite sure if {vabDot} works with {-chugh} the way "even" and
> > "if" combine in English, though.
>
> As far as I know we're still not even exactly sure what {vabDot} means, do
> we?
>
> QeS
>
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