Divehi to Klingon pIqaD: translate reference before changing the writing system
Letters cannot determine who this or that refers to
Selecting Klingon pIqaD changes the writing system of the target, not the grammatical meaning of the Divehi source. Divehi reference expressions can distinguish the speaker’s and listener’s surroundings, and a phrase associated with the listener can function as second-person reference. A translator must resolve that person before rendering the Klingon result in another alphabet. Replacing source characters with pIqaD-looking symbols would not identify the participants or translate the sentence.
This is especially relevant to Divehi respectful address. Some expressions built from a demonstrative and a human noun can refer to the listener, while related noun phrases can identify people being discussed. The same rough dictionary gloss that person does not settle the distinction. If the target refers to a third party when the source addresses the reader, a visually convincing pIqaD result still conveys the wrong relationship.
Klingon demonstratives attach to the noun
The Klingon Language Institute describes -vam for this or these and -vetlh for that or those. They are noun suffixes rather than separate demonstrative words. A source phrase with a demonstrative before its noun therefore needs to be rebuilt, not simply kept in the same order with different characters. The target suffix should identify the intended object or person according to the Klingon construction.
The lesson illustrates Ha'DIbaHvam, this animal, and Ha'DIbaHmeyvam, these animals. The demonstrative ending stays the same while the noun phrase’s number interpretation differs. This is another reason a character-by-character approach fails: it cannot decide how source reference and number should be distributed across the target word. A Divehi reference to something near the listener also needs interpretation within the actual target contrast, rather than assuming every source demonstrative has a unique Klingon suffix.
Plural classes and the script are separate layers
Divehi has different plural formations, including human and nonhuman patterns, and associative forms with names or kin terms. A named person together with their associates is not simply a collection of identical names. Klingon also has plural classes, but the lesson characterizes -mey for nouns outside the categories of language-capable beings and body parts. These categories cannot be equated mechanically with Divehi’s human–nonhuman grouping. The meaning of the target noun determines its grammatical treatment.
Only after those choices are made should the written Klingon be represented in pIqaD. The KLI explains that Okrand’s Roman orthography and the character mapping used by KLI members have distinct histories; earlier screen appearances even used characters decoratively. Those decorative strings are not models for translating a Divehi message. Preserve the completed target words, their grammatical suffixes and their sequence when displaying the alternate script. The examples here remain in readable Roman notation so the linguistic choices can be inspected; the pIqaD display must represent that chosen Klingon text, rather than provide a separate translation with different referents.
Language references