[tlhIngan Hol] loQ maw' ngoDvam 'a teH... (matlhejchuqtaH maH vIneH neH)

[Will Martin]

I think it’s even MORE ambiguous than you do, because it could also mean “I don’t want to actually DO anything with you. I just want to meditate and attain Oneness with the Universe in your presence. I only want to BE with you. If I’m not with you, I can get stuff done, but in your presence, there is no “doing". There is only “being".

As for the interpretation that it means that I have no desire other than to be with you, which is likely what the song means, to me that just sounds icky in a clingy way that, at the very LEAST, disrespects other valid desires, like eating or urinating, or avoiding environmental hazards, like extreme temperature, or high wattage electricity passing through my body, or nuclear radiation; or desires for respect among members of my community, or financial security, or wisdom, or basic math skills, or confidence when navigating the bus routes, etc.

This is why I never translate poetry.

charghwI’ vaghnerya’ngan

rInpa’ bomnIS be’’a’ pI’.




> On Mar 4, 2019, at 9:06 AM, Daniel Dadap <daniel at dadap.net> wrote:
> 
> In case it it’s not obvious what Terran song these lyrics go with, this should be a sufficient clue: when reconstructing these original Klingon lyrics, I wasn’t sure what the scope of “only” was in the line “I only want to be with you”. Does it mean I want to be with only you (and nobody else)? I want only to be with you (and I want nothing else)? Something else? I found it hard to resist the opportunity to say “vIneH neH”, so that kind of forces a meaning of “I merely want to be with you”, which may or may not be what the Terran version intended.

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