tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 26 10:28:53 1995

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Fwd: Suggestions of new words

[email protected] wrote:
>I have sent hardcopy in letter to KLI of the following suggestions

begh yIchu'! numISqangmoH jupHey 'ang nochmey! baH!

Seriously, most attempts to "create" new words in Klingon are misguided at best.
I've spent only a couple of months learning the language, and I understand the
desire to have a way to be able to translate sentences word for word.  However,
new words would be understood only by those who had access to their definitions.
Maybe this list's policy ought to be amended to prohibit new word suggestions?

>I do not use any of these suggestions myself yet; I need feedback first

Much of the fun of translating to and from Klingon as an intellectual exercise
comes from having to understand clearly the *idea* that one is trying to express.
A word like "library," for instance, is either "a building which contains books
for one to read" or "a room which contains books for one to read."  It is not
simply a "book building," which could easily be a warehouse or printing shop.
Your "license" sounds to me like "one who permits," rather than "a permit," for
which there is already a word.

Several of your proposed "words" are already perfectly good constructions; known
verbs with a known suffix don't need to be listed as separate words, and we already
have permission to combine pairs of nouns appropriately.  As for the rest...I think
it's better to try to work within the limits of what we have.  Creativity becomes
more of a requirement.  Writing isn't just a matter of putting down words; unless
a reader understands what has been written, the writing can be pointless.

-- ghunchu'wI'

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