Kristmas Karols?

[Kash]

Insomnia is a wonderful motivator for silly ideas, so here is my first draft of a classic terran christmas carol ("Adeste Fideles", or "O Come All Ye Faithful") in {tlhIngan Hol}. When I wake again I'll begin to rework it so it's actually grammatically sound, but for now you get to see the "half-asleep-with-no-coffee" version. Enjoy!

== Klingon ==
Suvoqlu'taH peghoS
pebel, yay peghajtaH
peghoSlI', betle'HemDuq peghoSlI'
puqoy yIlegh 'u' che'taH Hovmey joH'a'
wIHo'taH je wIquvtaH
wIHo'taH je wIquvtaH
wIHo'taH je wIquvtaH
wIvpu' joH'a'ma'


== English == (poetic translation, mind ye)
Come! Continue faithfully!
Rejoice! Continue in victory!
Come, Come to Bethlehem!
Look at the Child: He rules the universe, Lord of the Heavens
Let us admire and honor Him always,
He is the chosen one, Our Lord.

[qoSagh]

Pretty darn good for a lack of caffeine. Nice Job.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

Nicely done sir!

Now if we can find a Klingon Khoros to sing and record it!

Just out of curiosity, was Bethlehem left in tact to maintain the Christian integrity of the original song? I only ask, as I am unclear as to rather this was an attempt to "Klingon-ize" the song, or to simply translate it into tlhIngan Hol?

Either way, it looks good!


maj! {Good}...

[Kash]

Just out of curiosity, was Bethlehem left in tact to maintain the Christian integrity of the original song? I only ask, as I am unclear as to rather this was an attempt to "Klingon-ize" the song, or to simply translate it into tlhIngan Hol?

Both, actually. I attempted to capture the literal latin lyrics (yay alliteration!) in the most Klingon fashion I could. The specific words used were deliberately chosen for their appeal to the Klingon mindset, while still trying to maintain the power and meaning of the song (being a minister, that part is rather important to me). I also attempted, where possible, to maintain the rhythm of the original so it fits with the melody.

The problem with Bethlehem is the approach I used. Literally translating Bethlehem would lead to either of three translations: "House of Bread", the literal hebrew name; or "City of David", a traditional epithet which leaves the problem of whether to transliterate the name of David or translate it's meaning as well; and "House of David", which has the same problems as before, but with the added confusion of whether the House mentioned is a territorial holding or the Klingon political structure.

Looking back at the traditional names of Bethlehem in other terran languages, and the trend is striking. With one minor exception (Arabic, which lists it as "House of Meat", though it still maintains the sound of the word: <Beyt Lahm>), most of the languages in the area at that time seem to transliterate the word. In addition, I was initially working with the latin lyrics of this song, which also transliterated instead of translated directly.

Hope that helps.