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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/14/2019 10:17 AM, Will Martin
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:2EE5D023-98FB-4734-8A7B-FB6E2B195C7E@mac.com">
<div class="">For many years I’ve argued about the use of
{qamuSHa’} for “I love you.” The problem is that “I love you,”
is completely dependent upon context to give it meaning.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">A mother means one thing when saying it to her
child, a different thing when saying it to her husband, a
different thing when saying it to a sibling, a different thing
when saying it to HER mother, a different thing when saying it
to a childhood friend, a different thing when saying it to her
dog, a different thing when saying it to her favorite TV star…
etc.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The relationship and the circumstance give meaning
to an otherwise uselessly vague statement.</div>
</blockquote>
<p><i>I love you</i> is not uselessly vague, as you have just
demonstrated. It is a phrase that has many meanings, given the
context. When your spouse does something nice for you and you feel
gratitude and say <i>I love you,</i> it means a very specific
thing. The words themselves don't convey the specificity, but both
of you know the exact meaning.</p>
<p>So who says this doesn't happen in Klingon? Why is Klingon
ultra-specific in your mind? I mean, sure, there's the bit in <i>Power
Klingon</i> about Klingon being accurate, not approximate, but
this doesn't have to apply to intimate moments like this. The
stuff in <i>PK</i> is all about how to maintain the respect of
the people and animals around you, not the finer points of Klingon
subtlety.<br>
</p>
<p>I don't necessarily think that <b>qamuSHa'</b> has a one-to-one
relationship with <i>I love you,</i> but if Jadzia does something
really nice for Worf, who feels gratitude, why can't he say <b>qamuSHa'</b>
and both of them know exactly what he is talking about?</p>
<p>Klingon actually has a lot of scope to be vague in very useful
ways. I once wrote a story in Klingon and when I was done I
realized I had not given a single clue to the reader about the sex
of any of the characters. Then I thought, <i>does it matter?</i>
My story wasn't really focused on character development. The
Klingons were just performing their duties.</p>
<p>Being specific is nice when you need to do it, but if you're
translating something that is already vague in the source
language, then it's perfectly fine — maybe even more faithful — to
keep it vague in the target language.<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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