tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jun 20 15:31:31 1996
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Re: KLBC
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: KLBC
- Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 17:35:18 -0500
Tran trung Hoa writes:
>My given name...means `middle peace'...Would this be best
>translated as /roj botlh/ or /botlh roj/.
{roj botlh} is "the peace's middle" or "the middle of the peace"
{botlh roj} is "the middle's peace" or "the peace of the middle"
I think your grandfather had the latter meaning in mind.
>I suppose, since everyone just
>calls me Hoa, that perhaps I should just go with /roj/.
It's your name; go with what you feel good about. (But don't choose
a name hastily; it's likely to be with you a while.)
>Also, I have been trying to figure out what /ghunchu'wI'/ means, and the
>closest I can come to something coherent is `my perfect programmer'?!?!
>
>ghun (v) = to program
>-chu' = perfectly
>
>Therefore, /ghunchu'/ = to program perfectly
Close; the root verbs in Klingon aren't really "infinitive" forms.
The verb {ghun} means "program" or "programs"; {ghunchu'} means
"he/she/it perfectly programs." It's a complete sentence.
>However, /ghunchu'/ must be a noun, because /-wI'/ is a possessive suffix
>for a noun capable of using language, hence, somehow, /ghunchu'/ magically
>becomes `a perfect programmer', and /ghunchu'wI'/ becomes `my perfect
>programmer'. The logic appears to be correct -- to me, anyway -- but I am
>sure there is something wrong with it.
There's only one flaw in your analysis: there's also a type 9 verb suffix
spelled {-wI'}. It turns a verb into a noun which refers to the subject
of that verb. It's similar to the english suffix "-er" (see TKD 3.2.2).
Translations of words with this suffix often begin with "one who...". So
my name literally is "one who perfectly programs" or "perfect programmer".
It was a hasty attempt to translate "Hacker", a pseudonym I had used when
I was spending entirely too much time with computers at college.
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj