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I am writing a tri-lingual sign for my personal server room (English, Klingon and Matoran). I know a few words in Klingon and some of the basic grammar e.g. (OVS sentence structure). I also possess the boQwi' program for my qoqyoq portable computer device.

What i am trying to say is.

WARNING

Servers in operation

If you shut down the servers, the sysadmin will be very angry with you

This is what I have.

SoH ghuHmoH jIH! (lit. "I warn you!")

Qap De'toy'wI'! ("De'toy'wi'" is my translation of server. lit. one who serves data)

De'toy'wi' bochu'Ha'chugh SoH, De'wi'patloHwi' DuQeH ghaH! (De'wi'patloH is my translation of sysadmin. lit. "Computer System Administrator")

IS my sign understandable to those who speak Klingon (the warriors tongue).

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  • I'm not sure if this is on topic here, but I can't think of anywhere else where it could possibly be a better fit. It's certainly an unusual type of question for this site, but you never know—you might get a good answer or two!
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Feb 14, 2016 at 17:15
  • What about the linguistics community?
    – Escoce
    Commented Feb 14, 2016 at 17:16
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    Given the number of Klingon experts that frequent these boards, I think we can anticipate that you'll get a solid answer, if the question doesn't get closed first.
    – Valorum
    Commented Feb 14, 2016 at 17:41
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    @Escoce Translation request and grammar checks are off topic on Linguistics, as far as I recall.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Feb 14, 2016 at 17:59
  • 3
    Fictional language are also on-topic on Sci-Fi, according to the responses/votes on meta. If this one gets closed, I'll vote to reopen.
    – user31178
    Commented Feb 15, 2016 at 2:49

1 Answer 1

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You're on the right track! Needs some work, though.

SoH ghuHmoH jIH! means "You're. The view screen warns!"

Klingon pronouns are absorbed by pronomial prefixes: qaghuHmoH! = "I warn you!"

You could also go with yIghuH! ("Be aware!"). Alternatively: yIqIm! ("Pay attention!")

The word toy'wI' means "servant". Somebody who serves something - a waiter, or server - is a jabwI'.

However, I'd recommend something like HablI' ("data transceiving device"). Maybe DaH pa'vamDaq QaptaH HablI'mey. ("Data transceiving devices are currently operating in this room.")

De'toy'wi' bochu'Ha'chugh SoH, De'wi'patloHwi' DuQeH ghaH!

You've clearly done your homework and made an honest attempt, but this means something like "If you (plural) shut of the data-servant, you (singular are), the computer system admin, he/she will be angry at you."

I'd recommend:

HablI' Dachu'Ha'chugh, De'wI' pat loHwI' DaQeHqu'moHbej. = "If you deactivate a data transceiver, you will certainly make the computer system admin very angry."

Edit:

Some people have - quite fairly - asked for some sort of support to back up my claims. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to source a translation; my source is my own knowledge of the language.

Instead, I figure I'll gloss my text, so that people can easily verify it for themselves.

yIghuH! = "Be aware!"

yI- = imperative verb prefix; used when the object is third-person singular, or when the subject/listener is singular and there is no object (as in this case)

ghuH = "prepare for, be alerted to" (defined on p.88 of The Klingon Dictionary)

HablI' Dachu'Ha'chugh, De'wI' pat loHwI' DaQeHqu'moHbej. = "If you deactivate it, you will certainly anger the computer system administrator greatly."

HablI' = "data transceiving device" (defined on p.88 of The Klingon Dictionary)

Da- = verb prefix used when the subject is second-person singular and the object is third-person

chu'Ha' = chu' + -Ha' = "activate" + undo = "deactivate" (see for example the sentence yIchu'Ha' ("Disengage it!") on page 49 in The Klingon Dictionary)

-chugh = type-9 verb suffix: if (TKD §4.2.9)

Dachu'Ha'chugh = "if you (singular) deactivate it/him/her/them"

Klingon is Object-Verb-Subject, so HablI' Dachu'Ha'chugh means "If you deactivate a/the data transceiving device(s)"

De'wI' = "computer" (TKD p.85)

pat (TKD p.100; compare jolpat* ("transporter system") and **'ul pat mutlhwI' ("electrician, electric system assembler"))

loHwI' = loH + -wI' = "administer" (TKD p.94) + "one who does" = "administrator"

In Klingon, a sequence of nouns X Y Z means "the A pertaining to Y pertaining to X" (TKD §3.4 The noun-noun construction). So, De'wI' pat loHwI' = "computer system administrator".

Da- = verb prefix used when the subject is second-person singular and the object is third-person

QeH = "be angry" (TKD p.104)

-qu' = emphasis verb suffix rover (TKD §3.4)

-moH = type-4 verb suffix: cause (TKD §4.2.4)

-bej = type-6 verb suffix: definitely (TKD §4.2.6)

DaQeHqu'moHbej = "you certainly make her/him/it/them very angry"

So, De'wI' pat loHwI' DaQeHqu'moHbej means "you certainly anger the computer system administrator".

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  • 4
    +1 just for being convincing and looking like you know what you're talking about (even though realistically, I haven't the faintest idea if anything you said is true).
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Feb 17, 2016 at 22:29
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    Fair enough. Unfortunately it's a bit hard to source a language that's been continuously evolved for 30 years; my primary source is myself, a speaker since 2006. Tomorrow I'll try to find time to go through the teanslation in detail, to make it easier for readers to verify my claims.
    – loghaD
    Commented Feb 18, 2016 at 0:51
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    (( For the record, @NKCampbell’s comment wasn’t there when I was typing—looks like we decided to comment almost the exact same thing about 22 seconds apart. Just to make it clear I wasn’t trying to double-ambush you or anything. :-) ))
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Feb 18, 2016 at 22:22
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    As the author of the {boQwI'} program referred to in the original question, I certify that his answer is correct Klingon and means what he says it means.
    – dlyongemallo
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 10:17
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    Hopefully the OP will accept this answer. I can't imagine a more thorough and well-crafted answer. +1
    – iMerchant
    Commented May 1, 2016 at 14:46

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