tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 24 15:12:09 2003
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: bIng (n)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Thursday, July 24, 2003.
>
>Klingon word: bIng
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: area below, under
As used in canon:
cha' choQmey naQ tu'lu' 'ej tep choQ bIngDaq lo' law' bID choQ tu'lu'
2 Full Decks and a Half Utility Deck under the Cargo Deck KBoP
Usage notes:
All the "area" nouns work alike.
An English preposition need not be a part of the translation. Klingon
{Dung} means "area above", and {DungDaq} is "overhead", literally
something like "at the area above". (TKD 27)
Another interesting grammatical difference is found in the way
prepositional concepts ("above," "below," and so on) are expressed in
the speech typical of the Sakrej ({Sa'Qej}) region. In Klingon in
general, such ideas are conveyed by using a special set of nouns ({'em}
["area behind"], {bIng} ["area below"], and others) that follow the
nouns whose position they are indicating. Thus, "behind the door" is
{lojmIt 'em} (literally, "door area behind") and "below the table" is
{raS bIng} (literally, "table area below"). A pronoun may be used
instead of a noun: {jIH 'em} ("behind me"--literally, "I area behind"),
{chaH bIng} ("below them"--literally, "they area below"). In the Sakrej
region, however, possessive suffixes are used in place of the independent
pronouns: {'emwIj} ("behind me"--literally, "my area behind"), {bIngchaj}
("below them"--literally, "their area below"). Using the possessive suffix
construction when speaking {ta' Hol} will not lead to misunderstandings,
but it will associate the speaker with the residents of Sakrej, which,
depending on the political situation, may or may not be beneficial.
(KGT 24-25)
Related vocabulary:
Antonym {Dung} "area above, area overhead".
Cf. {wutlh} "underground" (n.)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons