NoStar:

WR,

I love that joke from "The Undiscovered Country" about reading Hamlet in the original Kilingon. I understand that Klingon like Hebrew either does not have or does not use the verb "to be". (In the case of Hebrew it is because it is integral to the name of God, so it is not used out of respect. But, I do not know why it is absent from Klingon.)

It sure makes translating "To be or not to be..." problematic.

NoStar

What you just said about Hebrew is ... problematic. :) If respect for Yhwh (which is based on an old form of "to be", the root hawah) were the reason "to be" is sometimes avoided, then "to be" would not be used at all. The reverse is true: hawah does appear on occasion, and the newer form hayah is exceedingly frequent (appearing notably in God's own definition of His name Yhwh, ehyeh asher ehyeh, "I AM THAT I AM"). It's the absence of "to be" that is rare and notable.

The truth is, when biblical Hebrew wants to indicate a simple state of "being" without regard to tense-aspect, it leaves hayah out. This is not a function of religious respect; it is a function of Hebrew being a Semitic language. In biblical (but not modernized) Hebrew, action is the framework in which time happens rather than the other way around. So when you have hayah actually stated, frequently you have some sense of becoming stated too. On that basis, one Hebrew scholar has seriously questioned whether hayah ever really means "to be" in biblical times -- in the sense we understand the verb, that is.

ST:TUC had some special features on the DVD version (or one of them). In one the problem of translating "To be or not to be" into Klingon was discussed. I think indeed that Klingon doesn't have the verb "to be" at all, but Hebrew emphatically does (especially modern Hebrew). N.B.: hayah in biblical Hebrew is rendered by the BDBG Lexicon as "fall out, come to pass, become, be", in that order, and even when it means "be" it often has some sense of becoming (according to that reference work's documentation).

"To be" probably is absent from Klingon for much the same reason that Klingon grammar consists of "nouns", "verbs", and "everything else" (according to The Klingon Dictionary, which I skimmed once). Even half-drunk the Klingons are among the best warriors in the Galaxy (as The Doctor once observed), but they're not the brightest bulbs in the Galaxy. When Humans win against Klingons (frustratingly often, as it must be, from the Klingon point of view), it's usually because the Humans have in some way outsmarted the Klingons (better tactics, better technology, or both).

My favorite line from ST:TUC: "I'd give real money if he'd shut up" (Dr. McCoy, about General Chang).

PS: I just received an e-mail from Peter Jensen. My contest was a surprise to him, but he said it looked like fun. He will be happy to sign your copy of Secrets of the Sonnets. If I can't find your address I'll e-mail you for it.

You will find it if you scroll down this page.

wr ()()