tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jan 24 22:02:54 1998
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Re: Unofficial words (Was: Re puqpu')
ja' peHruS:
>...You may stick your head in the mud
>and foresee no future for words in tlhIngan Hol.
I don't deny the possibility that we'll obtain more vocabulary. There are
certainly some concepts that are just plain missing in what we have. Words
for mathematical concepts are rather sparse, for instance, which makes any
attempt to discuss prime numbers in Klingon a bit difficult. However, I'm
told that it's also difficult to discuss prime numbers in Cherokee because
of a lack of vocabulary -- and Cherokee isn't likely to gain that vocabulary
any time soon.
>Some of us are realistic
>enough to realize that there are words for things yet unrevealed.
You appear to place great faith in the belief that there is a word for
everything. I don't begrudge you that faith, except that it appears to
limit your inclination to use the words we *do* know.
>Until we
>get those words, we have two methods: describing the thing using the words we
>already have, or using *English*.
Tell me, please -- what is your goal? I wish to communicate. If that means
writing descriptions to explain things for which there is no corresponding
simple vocabulary, that's what I'll do. If that means using English names
like "Kelvin" and units of measure like "acre", that's what I'll do.
>I, for one--and I am not alone--wish for the real Klingon words.
Your "wish list" of isolated words intrigued me. Perhaps your familiarity
with the existing vocabulary isn't strong enough for you to recognize when
there's a reasonably simple way to explain something, or perhaps what you
mean by a word like "bounce" is a bit more involved than what I think of.
But usually when you do provide the entire sentence you're trying to say in
Klingon, the idea is easily expressed using the existing vocabulary. The
*words* are not always translatable, but the concept comes through fine.
>reH Sachjaj tlhIngan wo' thlIngan Hol je peHruS
reH mu'mey DIpoQtaHchugh, Sachbe' tlhIngan Hol. Sach mu'tay neH.
maqontaHvIS tlhIngan Hol wIlo'qu'taHchugh, Sach tlhIngan Hol.
-- ghunchu'wI'