<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 19 October 2017 at 14:19, Joseph Bell <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:joble02@icloud.com" target="_blank">joble02@icloud.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Recently, I decided to start learning Klingon. As a practice, I started to translate the first few sentences of Sun Tzu’s the art of war. </div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I would say that translating a book isn't really the best way to practise a language you don't already know very well. This is especially true if the book you're translating is itself already a translation. I'm assuming you're not translating directly from the Chinese, as your translation indicates you're following the English you posted too closely.</div><div><br></div><div>(Also, as an aside, the Art of War has been translated already, though apparently it's stuck in publication limbo.)</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Although it looks right to me, I realize that, if I am in some way horribly mistaken as to how this language works, I would have no way of realizing this on my own. So, I am sending this to the mailing list, in the hopes that some good Samaritan could give me a pointer or two in my path to learning this fascinating language. English in quotes.<div><br></div><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt">“Laying Plans”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:11pt">chenmoH nabpu’</span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I can't parse this at all. Is {nab} intended to be a noun or verb here? What is its relationship to the verb {chenmoH}?</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.6px"></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt">“1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.6px"><span style="font-size:11pt"></span><br></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:11pt">wa’.</span><span style="font-size:11pt"> jatlh Sun’tlhu: <<veSQeD potlhqu’ wo’vaD>>.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.4px"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt"></span><br></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Remember object verb subject. What is the subject of {potlhqu'}? What role has {wo'vaD} play here?</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.4px"></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt">“2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.4px"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt"></span><br></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:11pt">cha’. </span><span style="font-size:11pt">yIn Hegh je Soj ‘oH ‘ej QaDqu’ghach lujqu’ghach ghap Dev ‘oH. QeD DabuSHa’be’qu’.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.6px"><span style="font-size:11pt"></span><br></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>"It is a matter of..." is an English expression. I feel using {Soj} follows this a bit too closely. What does it *mean* to say something is a matter of life and death? Express that. I would also suggest to express using verbs the idea you're apparently trying to express by using nouns with {-ghach}.</div><div><br></div><div>Note that we have a word {taw} for "road". </div><div><br></div><div>Is the last sentence intended to be an imperative? Right now, it just says "You do *not* ignore this science" (not that you *shouldn't*).</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.6px"></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt">“3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.”</span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville;min-height:12.4px"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:11pt"></span><br></p>
<p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;font-size:11px;line-height:normal;font-family:Baskerville"><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:11pt">wej. </span><span style="font-size:11pt">veSQeD qum vagh qechmey, bIH Daqel ‘ej yotlhDaq Datu’DI’.</span></p><div><span style="font-size:11pt"><br></span></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Your sentence seems incomplete. "You consider them, and as soon as you find it in the field..." [something seems missing here]. See TKD 6.2.2 about subordinate clauses. Also, maybe you meant to use an imperative somewhere.</div><div><br></div><div>Note that "field" in this case is probably {che'ron} rather than {yotlh}.</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div><div><span style="font-size:11pt"></span></div><div><div><br><div id="m_-4599149938295865512AppleMailSignature">Sent from my iPad</div></div></div></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">De'vID</div>
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