tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 30 09:15:26 1998

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Re: RE: KLBC - tera'Daq lengwIj wa'DIch

: > <tIq> can be used to mean "tall" as well as "long", so it is probably
: > better than <runHa'>.
: >
: > pagh
: 
: I'm not really interested in challenging you on this, but I am 
: curious if you have any canon to point me to so that I might 
: annotate my dictionary to this effect. I would not have 
: considered using {tIq} to indicate "tall". I likely would have 
: used {runHa'}.
: 
: charghwI' 'utlh

I have no record of this usage either. {tIq} "be long, be lengthy (of an
object)" has only been used once:

   nISwI' HIch motlh HoS Hal qengwI' naQ tIq je lurarlu'bogh 'oH tlhIngan
     nISwI' beH'e' 
   The Klingon disruptor rifle is a standard hand held disruptor, attached
     to an extended power supply stock. S14

pagh may be remembering that when measuring people, we use {'ab}.  Okrand
explains on the Expert Forum (10/97):

   There are two words used for length: {'aD} and {'ab}. Both of these
   can be translated as "have a length of", but they are used somewhat
   differently. {'aD} is used in contrast with {juch} "have a width of"
   in measuring, say, a table top. {'ab}, on the other hand, is used for
   (potentially) longish, skinnyish things (for example, spears) and also
   for heights.

Examples: 

   wej 'ujmey 'ab 'oy'naQ
   Painstiks are a little over one meter long (S32)

   wej 'uj 'ab naQjej
   the spear has a length of three uj
   (the spear measures three uj; the spear is three uj long) (EF 10/97)

   jav 'ujmey 'ab SuvwI'
   the warrior has a length of six ujs 
   "This might sound a little more natural as `the warrior stands six
    ujs' or `the warrior is six ujs tall.' (Or should it be `ujes' in the
    translation?)" (EF 10/97)

   vagh 'ujmey vI'ab
   I have a length of five ujs, I'm five ujs tall. (EF 10/97) 

So, one measures ('ab) both things that are long (tIq) as well people that
are tall (?).

Another possibility is {jen}, which occurs only in this slang law'/puS variant: 

   tlhIngan yoH jen verengan yoH 'eS = tlhIngan yoH 'eS verengan yoH jen
   The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi (slang) KGT

Note that {jen} "be high" is contrasted with {'eS} "be low".  These are the
only examples given of both these words, however, so we don't know whether
{jen} can also used for people ("be tall"?) as is the case in many languages.  

OTOH, KGT does list {run} "be short (in stature)", so while *{runHa'} would
certainly be understood, we're not sure that it's the mot juste.

If there is a verb for "be tall (in stature)", I suspect it will turn out to
be distinct - that is, if Okrand runs true to form.  But in the meantime, do
we refer to people as "high" (jen), "long" (tIq) or "un-short" (*runHa') in
Klingon?  You can make an argument for each.  

Maltz, are you listening?


-- 
Voragh                           "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons     lis est."         Horace (Ars Poetica)

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