The Little Prince

Cover
The Little Prince – Klingon title
ta'puq mach – is a story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, first published in English and French in 1943. Although it seems to written for children, its philosophical contents are loved by adults as well. This led to a great success worldwide. The book has been translated to over 300 languages and therefore is (after the
Bible) the most translated book of the world.
In October
2018 the Klingon translation by
Lieven L. Litaer has been published.
Marc Okrand has provided several
new words for the creation of this translation.
"The Little Prince in Klingon" has been awarded with the German literature prize "Deutscher Phantastik Preis" 2019.
Contents
As it's an unwritten habit with other Klingon translations, this book is built in a way that it has the German text on one side, Klingon on the other. The special situation here is that the German translation is not the already existing known version, but it is a direct back-translation from Klingon. This make it easier for the readers to compare what is written in Klingon.
Quotes
HIbelmoH... DI'raq yIwev.
"Please... Draw me a sheep." (chapter II)
leghchu' tIq neH. potlh leghlaHbe' mIn.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (chapter XXI)
reH Doch'e' Datlhay'moHbogh DaSaHnISqu'.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." (chapter XXI)
reH noHmey tagh Holmey.
"Language is the source of misunderstandings." (chapter XXI)
Video

Screenshot from the video
The translator of the work
Lieven L. Litaer has created a short movie based on chapter II with his seven year old daughter, spoken entirely in Klingon. The video can be found on
YouTube and has subtitles in seven languages, including Klingon.
See
The Little Prince - in Klingon 
.
New words
Klingon |
Type |
Translation |
Notes |
bewbeb |
n. |
Baobab (tree) |
loanword |
Daqrab |
n. |
well |
"source" is not part of the definition. A Daqrab is constructed and/or dug |
DISjaj |
n. |
anniversary |
DI'raq |
n. |
sheep |
a fluffy, woolly, shaggy Klingon animal |
Hovtej |
n. |
astronomer |
HovQeD |
n. |
astronomy |
Hov tut |
n. |
telescope |
layman's term – maybe even slang |
moQbID |
n. |
dome |
literally: half sphere |
pu' |
n. |
horn |
qargh |
v. |
be bulky, thick |
[like a book] |
qeSHoS |
n. |
fox-like animal |
Klingon animal |
quntej |
n. |
historian |
qunQeD |
n. |
history |
i.e. the science |
ro'Sa' |
n. |
rose (Terran flower) |
loanword |
SaHa'ra' |
n. |
Sahara (desert on Earth) |
loanword |
Su'wan ghew |
n. |
Butterfly-like animal |
a flying insect with largish wings |
tom |
v. |
tilt |
like movement of the head; intransitive |
tlhegh jIrmoHwI' |
n. |
windlass |
literally: rope twister / rotator |
wev |
v. |
sketch, doodle |
a quick drawing, not a careful one |
yItlh |
v. |
be strict, severe, firm, stern, authoritarian |
yItlhHa' |
v. |
be indulgent |
yuQtej |
n. |
geographer |
yuQQeD |
n. |
geography |
The meaning of yuQ must have changed over the years. Maybe it originally meant something like place/location where we live |
'ughDuq ghargh |
n. |
caterpillar |
not used to prepare Gagh |
The title - ta'puq
The word used in the title -
ta'puq for
prince - is NOT a new word approved my Marc Okrand.
In the beginning of the translation progress, the idea was to name the main person
ta'Hom mach, but that was rejected by the translator as the
diminutive suffixe -Hom had a negative connotation. So he decided to use the word for prince which had been used in
Hamlet.
When
Maltz was asked, he noted that there are many different meanings of the term prince (such as "son of the king", but also "governor" in general) so it was not clear how to translate. Instead of finding a new word for this, Marc Okrand suggested to just take whatever term, as it was not relevant to the story.
Details
See also
References
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Weblinks