[[ [2010-10-31] added document [2013-04-11] author + summary update Type: newsgroup posting Date: 3 February 1999 Title: Okrand Speaks: Measurement Author: Marc Okrand Summary: On the usage of suffixes {-'a'} and {-Hom} with measurements. ]] From: "William H. Martin" To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org Subject: Okrand Speaks: Measurement Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 12:36:23 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) Again, from the news list, Okrand speaks. He said in a coversation surrounding but not in the HolQeD interview that most units of measure had alternate forms wtih {-'a'} added to [[wtih:=with]] mean "9 times", so that one 'uj'a' = 9 'ujmey. I didn't think at the time, but wrote in to the NEWS list that I wondered if {-Hom} would mean a ninth of that measurement. This is his response. charghwI' 'utlh ***************************************************** No. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. An <'uj> is a unit of linear measurement, roughly 35 centimeters; an <'uj'a'>, or "big uj" (<'uj> plus the augmentative suffix <-'a'> "big") is nine times as long, or nine ujes, somewhat over three meters. The Klingon measurement system is more like the British and American system in that the names of the units, for the most part, have nothing to do with each other (inch, foot, yard, mile, and so on). This differs from the metric system, where the names are basic units modified by a set of prefixes (meter, millimeter, centimeter, kilometer, etc.). Thus the existence of a unit known as a "big uj" (<'uj'a'>) does not mean there's a mathematically related diminutive counterpart (a "little uj," or <'ujHom>) Maltz did say, however, that he'd heard the term <'ujHom> used in a story about a merchant lacking honor, something about the merchant not filling the order properly. Will Martin wrote in message ... >So, if an 'uj'a' is nine 'ujmey, is an 'ujHom a ninth of an 'uj? > >-- >charghwI' 'utlh [[eof]]