tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Oct 30 14:50:09 2002
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Re: KLBC: -ngan Suffix
Voragh:
> >possibly, {tlhIngan} "Klingon" itself, which *may* be derived from {tlhIng}
> >"Kling", a district on the Klingon Homeworld.
Quvar:
>Why *may*?
>
>This could be interesting, it's from The StarTrek Omnipedia CD:
>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>Kling:
> A district or city on the Klingon Homeworld. The renegade Korris
> spoke disparagingly of the
>"traitors of Kling". (Heart of Glory) [TNG]
> At the time the episode was written, Kling was intended as the name
> of the Klingon Homeworld. Once
>the episode was filmed, it was realized that the name sounded pretty
>silly, so later scripts simply
>referred to "the Homeworld". The first time the Homeworld was given a name
>was in Star Trek VI: The
>undiscovered Country, when it was called Qo'noS (pronounced Kronos).
>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
>Probably a long time ago, it was the capital, the veng wa'DIch, that's why
>the tlhIng ngan became
>"tlhIngan". So when you look at the background, {tlhIngan} is really
>related to {tlhIng ngan}.
Although it's fairly obviously etymologically, I said "may be derived"
because we don't know exactly how {tlhIng} became applied to the entire
species, the {tlhInganpu'}. (Of course, the real life reason is that the
word "Klingon" was created before "Kronos", as the Omnipedia
explains.) KGT is silent on this question.
From the BoP poster, we know of {tlhIng yoS} the "Kling District":
tlhIngan juHqo'Daq tlhIng yoSDaq 'oH toQDuj chenmoHlu'meH Daq wa'DIch'e'
1st Construction Site: The Kling District, Klingon Home World.
According to the "Federation Travel Guide", Kling is the capital city of
Qo'noS. The capital is always called {veng wa'DIch} "The First City" in
the TNG episodes however.
Was Kling Kahless' first capital and, thus, his followers were the
{tlhInganpu'}, the Kling-ites? Was the region named after the city? Was
the city named after the region? Was the city or region named after a
person (e.g. was {tlhIng} Kahless's clan name, birth name, nom du guerre,
or alias?) - cf. Krotmag Region or the city of Ruk'evet.
And KGT (pp.16-17) discusses the conventions for geographical names:
"Within the land mass are distinct areas, some of which are demarcated
geographically (divided by a mountain range, for example), while the
boundaries of others seem rather arbitrary, the result, no doubt, of
ancient power struggles. A specific area whose borders are definable,
by whatever means, is normally called a {Sep}, commonly translated as
"region", though, since the regions were politically distinct in the past,
"country" might have at one time been just as appropriate a translation.
An identifiable area within a {Sep} is a {yoS} ("area, district"), and a
{yoS} usually contains at least one important {veng} ("city"); though
sometimes, especially in the more rugged parts of a planet, there may be
only a small settlement or {vengHom} ["village"]). This terminology is
also used when describing other planets within the Empire.
"Regions are sometimes identified by the name of the most prominent city
within the region. Thus, the region containing the First City is simply
called {veng wa'DIch Sep} ("First City region") and {voSpegh Sep}
("Vospeg region", southwest of the First City--to use directional terms
familiar to speakers of Federation Standard) is named after the city of
Vospeg. Other regions have names that are distinct from the names of any
districts or cities within them, such as the large {Sa'Qej Sep} ("Sakrej
region"), several thousand kilometers east of the First City. The origins
of most Klingon place names are not known, having been lost to history.
Sometimes, however, the meaning of a place name is clear, such as the
Sakrej region's {HuD beQ yoS} ("Flat Mountain district") and, of course,
{veng wa'DIch} ("First City"). On rare occasion, a place's name can be
traced to an individual or family, such as {Qotmagh Sep} ("Krotmag
region"),
derived from {Qotmagh}, the leader of a powerful house who, centuries ago,
conquered neighboring areas, or {ruq'e'vet} ("Ruk'evet"), a city in the
{ghevchoq Sep} ("Gevchok region"), named for a warrior (whether actual or
mythological is a matter of dispute) who singlehandedly defeated an
invading
force.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons