[Tlhingan-hol] Question on Reason Clauses

[lojmIt tI'wI' nuv]

Just to be clear about my earlier message, I think the original translation is the best. It is certainly how I would have translated it. My other suggestions were merely a response to what sounded like, "Are there other possible translations?"

There are ALWAYS other translations. That's the primary difference between a language and a code. Codes have one translation. Between languages, ALL translations are imperfect involving compromise and interpretation of the unstated, subtle bits of meaning behind the original expression. 

What did Hamlet mean by the simple expression, "To be, or not to be? That is the question,"? Doctoral Theses have been written on this. Actors and literary critics make their living arguing over this.  And, "I know why you killed him," is rife with unstated context and subtle meaning. 

Every translation requires assumptions and interpretations. A superior translation can express an idea more accurately than the original. Perhaps the English speaker was trying to say something that is better expressed in Klingon, but they were handicapped by the limits of their native tongue. 

So, we can never really translate an expression out of context very well. We don't fully understand what you mean when you say, "I know why you killed him," without context because there are so many dissimilar contexts that could bring you to those words in English. For many of them, there might be some other superior translation. 

None of this is intended to intimidate new Klingon speakers. Crawl first. Walk later. Run later still. Perhaps fly. But crawl first. 

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 27, 2015, at 8:04 PM, Robyn Stewart <robyn at flyingstart.ca> wrote:
> 
> Your way is really good..
> 
> People want to try and force the word qatlh in there, but that is because in English the word “why” is both a question word and a subordinate conjunction.  In Klingon qatlh only asks a question, so if you aren’t asking a question it has no place in the sentence. 
> 
> You could use a rhetorical question:  qatlh DaHoHta’? vISov jIH. But I think your way is better, don’t you?
> 
> - Qov
> 
>  
> From: Chelsea Knauf [mailto:chelsea.knauf at gmail.com] 
> Sent: August 27, 2015 13:26
> To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org
> Subject: [Tlhingan-hol] Question on Reason Clauses
>  
> I'm trying to figure out how to translate "I know why you killed him".
>  
> {DaHoHta'.  meqlIj vISov}?  "You killed him; I know your motive".  Is there another way to say this?
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