Appearances of Klingon: on television - in movies - in the news - in commercials - in politics - in literature - Translations Hamletmachine
Hamletmachine (original title "Die Hamletmaschine") is a play written 1977 by German author Heiner Müller.
Klingon translation
For the production of their play
mu' mu' mu', Dutch theatre group
URLAND asked
Lieven L. Litaer to make a Klingon translation of
Hamletmachine.
The first working title for the group's play was "De Klingon Hamletmachine", but during production process, they changed the run of their play, so that only a very small piece of
Hamletmachine appeared in the final play.
It is planned to be published in the run of they year 2020. The Klingon title of
Hamletmachine is
Hamlet QuQ, based on the original version of Hamlet, Act II, Scene II:
'Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst
this machine is to him, HAMLET.'
reH banglI’, porghDaj
yInmoHtaHvIS neH QuQDaj, Hamlet’e’.
New words
Okrand provided some new words and clarifications for this translation.
Klingon |
Translation |
Notes |
DeSwar bIr |
refrigerator |
not a Klingon thing |
Do'ghI' |
calf |
body parts |
ghenlan |
Greenland |
country names |
jIb |
lynch, execute by hanging |
This appeared while talking about "hang", so the focus is on that, not on "lynch" |
jorchan velqa' |
scenery, stage decoration |
lIwnal |
concubine |
lIyenIn |
Lenin |
transliteration |
maw |
Mao |
transliteration |
much jech |
costume |
two words [in context of a stage play] |
much yaH |
stage |
nev'ob |
thigh, upper arm |
see notes below |
qab jech |
mask |
two words; This is a mask as a disguise, not a surgical mask |
qaw' |
tip over |
[turn 90°, what the thing does] |
qaw'moH |
tip over |
[i.e. "make something tip over"] |
qo'qa' qo'la' |
Coca Cola |
transliteration |
reStav |
shin, forearm |
see notes below |
rIv |
split |
[like an ax does to a watermelon] |
tlhep |
be suspended, be dangling |
[basically the same as "hang"] |
vIrgh |
rip (up), slash, tear (up), gash |
[like ripping a photo in half] |
'o'nI' |
foam, froth |
this is a noun |
Notes on the words
nev'ob refers to both the "thigh" and the "upper arm" (above the elbow). Similarly, reStav refers to both the "shin" and the "forearm." If it's necessary to make a distinction, precede these words with 'uS or DeS.
cha'neH, when used alone, means "forearm." But when preceded by 'uS, it means "lower part of the leg." You could also say DeS cha'neH for "forearm," but this would probably be used only in a context where you were talking about both the forearm and the lower leg and wanted to clarify which was which.
reStav is "shin," meaning the front of the lower leg. (I assume [the German word] "Schienbein" is "shin bone." reStav is more than just the bone. The only way Maltz was aware of for referring to the bone is reStav Hom.)
Do'ghI' is "calf," meaning the back of the lower leg ([the German word] "Wade," presumably).
The "stage":
Any place specifically designated for the performance of a specific task (or tasks) is a yaH. A stage is the yaH for the performance of plays or, perhaps, music. A football field is the yaH for a football game. A laboratory is a scientist's yaH. And, of course, on a ship, a yaH is a duty station. If context isn't enough to clarify what sort of yaH it is, you can say things like much yaH, QoQ yaH, tamlerQeD yaH, etc.
The usage of the verb
HuS hang:
HuS takes an object. If your shoes are hanging on a wall it's because somebody hung them there. HuS is not used to mean "lynch" or "execute by hanging." That's a different word: jIb. (Maltz thought maybe an early form of torture or execution was hanging people by their hair, but he wasn't totally sure about this and may have just been reacting to the homophony.)
And there's another word: tlhep "be suspended, be dangling." Use HuS if, for example, you hang your coat on a hook on the wall or hang sheets on a clothesline to dry. But if, say, you see a spider dangling at the bottom of one of those silk threads that spiders extrude, use tlhep. Or if you see a pair of shoes tied together by the laces and, for whatever reason, they're hanging by the tied-together laces from an overhead power wire, use tlhep.
"refrigerator":
Maltz knows what a refrigerator is, but it's not a Klingon thing and he doesn't really understand why anyone would need one. What possible reason is there for making food cold? Or for keeping it around for days or weeks? He said that your suggestion (Soj bIrmoHmeH polwI' DeSwar) certainly describes the device, but he wouldn't call it that. He preferred simply DeSwar bIr.
"concubine":
Maltz thought the best word for this might be lIwnal, though maybe not: the cultural connotations are a bit different since, in Klingon culture, everything associated with a lIwnal lacks honor, and this is not necessarily the case for a (Terran) king's concubines or courtesans. Note that only married people could have a partner who could be considered a lIwnal. Also, lIwnal could be male or female, so if it's necessary to distinguish, say loD lIwnal or be' lIwnal.
- Okrand agreed that jIb'egh is "suicide by hanging".
- There's an idiom for "kill time": 'ebmey jonHa'
- Talking about a "virgin", Okrand suggested saying it literally what a virgin is: pagh ngaghpu'bogh be' or not vay' ngaghpu'bogh be'.
Doing so, he answered the question if ngagh can be used with people.
- jach is a good verb to describe what a jajlo' Qa' does.
See also
References
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External links