tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 01 10:23:00 1999
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Re: RE: KLBC: Time & sleep.
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: RE: KLBC: Time & sleep.
- Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 13:22:52 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
- Priority: NORMAL
I'm surprised that with your usual thorough manner you did not
quote CK in its description that since Klingons are
accommodating of foreigners, the guest rooms do come equipped
with a bed. It then warns that the bed is most often made of the
same material as the floor.
charghwI' 'utlh
On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 09:57:07 -0800 (PST) Steven Boozer
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Ian Wilkinson:
> >QongDaq = bed, When I saw this I assumed it was sleep(ing) place. It's
> >just that we think of a bed as the place we sleep. Would a Klingon think
> >of a QongDaq as an item of furniture (I know Klingons are not supposed to
> >use beds) or maybe a room or part of a room. Would it be reasonable to call
> >the place an animal slept a QongDaq even though it is not a bed? Or is
> >the QongDaq just the last place a Klingon did sleep or intended to sleep?
>
> pagh:
> : To start with, although it's extremely likely that <QongDaq> is somehow
> : derived from <Qong> and <Daq> (or <-Daq>), we don't know *how* it is
> : derived. All we know is that it's a noun with two syllables.
>
> On startrek.klingon (6/97) Okrand discussed this very problem:
>
> {QongDaq} "could be a normal compound noun"--but the important word
> there is could: It could be a compound noun IF both {Qong} and {Daq}
> are nouns. We know that {Daq} "place" is a noun; we know that {Qong}
> is a verb (sleep); we don't know that {Qong} (presumably "sleep" or
> "sleeping") is a noun. Maybe it is--but until we see it as a noun in
> its own right (that is, in a place in a sentence where nouns occur
> and in a construction where it's not attached to {Daq}) will we know
> for sure. Until that time, it's a good hypothesis, but not a done deal
> ... a word like {QongDaq} is evidence that at an earlier stage in the
> language, there may have been a noun {Qong} (meaning "sleep" or
> something similar). Or maybe there was a verb suffix {-Daq} meaning
> "place where one does X". On the other hand, you may have uncovered
> evidence that there is currently a noun {Qong}--it just hasn't been
> attested anywhere else yet, so we should keep our eyes peeled. But
> without further evidence, it's a guess.
>
> : Even if Klingons don't use the elaborate beds that Terrans do, they must
> : have some sort of permanent sleeping areas, and these are called
> : <QongDaqmey>. The exact nature of these <QongDaqmey> may vary greatly
> : between regions, social classes, etc. In particular, we know that Klingon
> : ships have bunks, even if they are basically just metal shelves.
>
> We saw one of these metal shelf-like bunks aboard a Bird of Prey in TNG
> "Unification, Pt.1". We also know from "Conversational Klingon" that
> hotels {mebpa'mey} (lit. "guest-rooms/quarters") have them; the Terran
> guest was warned that:
>
> letqu' QongDaq.
> The bed is very hard. CK
>
> This, and the proverb
>
> QongDaqDaq Qotbe' tlhInganpu'
> Klingons do not lie in bed. TKW
>
> implies that a {QongDaq} is some type of furniture, if fairly basic by
> human standards.
>
> : I don't really know how Klingons would view places where animals sleep. I am
> : pretty certain a basket with pillows and a blanket for a Terran dog or cat
> : would rate a <QongDaq>, but it would probably get a <-qoq> and a sneer as
> : well.
>
> If you really need to say this, how about {QongmeH Daq} "a place for
> sleeping" for animals, to distinguish it from the noun {QongDaq}? The
> pattern "Verb+{meH} Noun" turns out to be fairly productive in Klingon:
> e.g. {QongmeH Duj} a "sleeper ship" (SkyBox S15).
>
>
> --
> Voragh
> Ca'Non Master of the Klingons