tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 27 09:38:12 1998

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RE: tlhIngan mu'mey

:> Katherine wrote:
:>} i wanted to learn some klingon to train my next dog.  it would seem to
:>} me that since there are very emphatic sounds it would grab the
:>} dog's attention and other ppl would not be able to tell him (her) to do
:>} things that i wouldn't want.
:>
:> You are not the first.  Remember to use clipped Klingon with the dog, not
:> the imperative prefixes you would use talking to people.
: 
: > Qov
: 
: Also remember to precede each command with /SuH/, pronounced like the
: English "Sshh!"
: 
: --Holtej

Probably not necessary each time if you are giving it a *series* of
commands.  {SuH} and {SSS...} are more like a "Heads up!" or "Attention!"
warning to a pet (or inattentive subordinate) that a command is about to
follow.  It's best used with an isolated command or the first of several,
after which you probably have the animal's undivided attention.  It's only
used on Power Klingon once, during the dinner scene at the end of the tape,
when the now Klingon-savvy Terran says:

     Your krog is definitely fierce.
        qu'bej QoghlIj.
     Do not do that!  Sit!
        SSS... mev!  ba'!

Note that he only used it with the first command.  When the sample pet
commands were listed (with sound effects) earlier in the tape, {SuH} did not
preceed any of them:

     Sit!
	ba'!
     Stand!
	Qam!
     Come here!
	naDev ghoS!
     Eat!
	Sop!
     Stop eating!
	Sop 'e' mev!
     Attack!
	HIv!
     Bite his/her leg off!
	'uSDaj chop! chev!
     Chew that arm!
	DeSvetlh yIv!
     Do not do that!
	mev!
     Bad animal!
	Ha'DIbaH qab!
     Bad!
	qab!
     Do not lick my forehead!
	QuchwIj roSQo'!
     Bring that here!
	naDev Dochvetlh qem!
     I really mean it this time!  Bring that here!
	naDev Dochvetlh qemqu'!
     Get off that transporter control panel!
	jol SeHlaw lItHa'!

It's genesis, of course, is ST:TMP, when the captain of the IKS Amar gives a
series of Clipped Klingon commands to his bridge crew while engaging V'ger:

     wIy cha'!
	Display tactical!
     HaSta!
	Visual (display)!
     cha yIghuS!
	[Tactical], stand by on torpedoes!
     'eH...
	Ready. (captain raises his hand)
     SSS... baH!
	Ready... Fire!
     juntaH!
	Evasive [action]!

Here {SSS...} is more like "Wait for it...!" as the captain wants the gunner
to fire the torp *precisely* on his command, not "at will".  Okrand explains
its use in TKD (p. 57):

"SuH, Su' and 'eH all mean that the speaker is about to give a command. They
are comparable to the 'Ready!' at the beginning of a race: 'Ready! Set! Go!'
SuH and Su', but not 'eH, can also be used to indicate that the speaker is
ready to do something or that arrangements have been made for something to
happen. Some speakers of Klingon pronounce SuH as if it were SSS, almost
like the English expression for 'be quiet':  shhh!"

Voragh

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