Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:58:34 -0400 | Header from the message To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org | forwarded to tlhingan-hol From: TPO | Subject: gods (from Marc) | From the startrek.klingon news group: There is a Klingon word that could be translated "god" or "supernatural being": . In talking of times long ago (pre-Kahless?), Klingons mention these beings, and there seem to have been a good number of them (the plural of is since they are or were presumably capable of using language, which is what the plural suffix <-pu'> implies). Though too little is known of ancient Klingon theology, there doesn't seem to have been a single that stood out from the rest. Indeed, the appear to have acted collectively. are distinct from "spirits" (such as the spirits of the dishonored dead which reside at Gre'thor). "great god" ( plus <-'a'>, the augmentative suffix) may or may not be an appropriate translation for a single supernatural being in a monotheistic system, since the would still be one among many. =========================================================================== Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 19:02:07 -0400 | Header from the message To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org | forwarded to tlhingan-hol From: TPO | Subject: [chegh] and new word [tatlh] (from Marc) | From the startrek.klingon news group: Will Martin wrote in message [snip] >And since I don't have the interview with me, was {chegh} >"return" one of >those verbs that acts like {ghoS} and {jaH} in terms of >having the locative >suffix optional on the direct object, or is it more like >{Hop} and {Sum} >with assumptions made about relating the speaker with the >place returned >to? {chegh} "return" seems to work like this: lupDujHomDaq jIchegh "I return on the shuttle." lupDujHom vIchegh "I return to the shuttle." lupDujHomDaq may'Duj vIchegh "I return to the battle cruiser on the shuttle" tera'vo' Qo'noS vIchegh "I return to Kronos from Earth" ({lupDujHom} "shuttle," {-Daq} "locative suffix," {jIchegh} "I return" consisting of {jI-} "I" [no object] plus {chegh} "return"; {vIchegh} "I return to" consisting of {vI-} "I [do something to] it" plus {chegh} "return [to]"; {may'Duj} "battle cruiser"; {tera'} "Earth," {-vo'} "from", {Qo'noS} "Kronos") Note that {chegh} "return" means "return to a place"; the place being returned to is the object of the verb. If the place being returned to is not mentioned (as in, for example, the first sentence above, "I return on the shuttle"), the verb takes a prefix indicating "no object" (here {jI-}). If the place being returned to is mentioned (as in the final three sentences), the verb takes a pronominal prefix that indicates the object ({vI-} in the examples). A different verb, {tatlh}, is used for "return" in the sense of returning a library book or returning a weapon to the weapons rack. If someone were to say something like "I return the plate to the table," the appropriate verb would be {tatlh}: raSDaq jengva' vItatlh ({raS} "table," {-Daq} "locative suffix," {jengva'} "plate," {vItatlh} "I return it" consisting of {vI-} "I [do something to] it" plus {tatlh} "return") Though not common, it is also possible to use {tatlh} with the reflexive suffix {-'egh} ("do something to oneself") to convey a meaning similar to that of {chegh}: pa'Daq jItatlh'egh "I return to the room" ({pa'} "room," {-Daq} "locative suffix," jItatlh'egh "I return myself" consisting of {jI-} "I," {tatlh} "return," {'egh} "reflexive suffix") The {tatlh'egh} form seems to suggest that the doer of the action is forcing himself/herself to do something, perhaps because it is difficult or not desirable. =========================================================================== Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 19:04:17 -0400 | Header from the message To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org | forwarded to tlhingan-hol From: TPO | Subject: where do you live? (from Marc) | From the startrek.klingon news group: Will Martin wrote in message [snip] >And which of the following would be the most common form >of the question, >"Where do you live?" and what form would the most common >answer take?: > >nuq DaDab? > >nuqDaq DaDab? > >nuqDaq bIDab? Actually, the most common form of the question "Where do you live?" is not a question at all, but a command such as: Daq DaDabbogh yIngu' "Identify the place where you live" ( "place"; "that you live at," made up of "you [do something to] it," "live in/at, dwell in/at, inhabit" <-bogh> "relative clause marker"; yIngu' "identify it!" consisting of "imperative prefix," "identify") Perhaps a translation such as "Identify the place that you live at" or "Identify the place that you inhabit" is more revealing. Answers are likely to be brief and to the point: Daqvam "this place" ( "place," <-vam> "this") pa' "there" naDev "here" qachvetlh "that building" ( "building," <-vetlh> "that") Qo'noS "Kronos" It is possible, however, to respond with a full sentence: Daqvam vIDab "I live at this place" pa' vIDab "I live there" naDev vIDab "I live here" qachvetlh vIDab "I live in/at that building" Qo'noS vIDab "I live on Kronos" ( "I live in/at," consisting of "I [do something to] it," "live in/at, dwell in/at, inhabit") Of the three suggested ways to ask "Where do you live?" the first is the most acceptable: nuq DaDab "What do you inhabit? What do you dwell at?" ( "what?"; "you live in/at it, you dwell in/at it, you inhabit it," containing the prefix "you [do something to] it") The English translations of are very awkward (from an English point of view) and don't get across the sense of the Klingon all that well. The less literal "Where do you live?" is what is really being asked. In Klingon, when one lives in a place or dwells in a place, he or she is thought of as "occupying" or "inhabiting" that place; not doing something at that location, but doing something to it (occupying it). [[eof]]