tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Mar 02 19:16:21 2003
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Re: KLBC - jonwI'
"Shawn Skerven" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Why is * jonwI' * engineer when jon is capture?
Why can't you drive in the driveway, and why can't you park in a parkway? ;-)
> Just curious, i'd think jonwI' would be one who captures.
You're right, it could also mean that. Context will usually make clear what is meant. Like many other languages,
Klingon has many words that resemble each other but their meanings are totally different. You see the english
example above. In the Klingon Dictionary (TKD) section 3.2.3. about "Other complex nouns", Marc Okrand
describes this:
>>>>>>>>
There are a good many nouns in Klingon which are two or, less frequently, three syllables long, but which are not
complex nouns of the types described above. These nouns probably at one time were formed by combining simple
nouns, but one or all of the nouns forming the complex noun are no longer in use, so it is not possible (without
extensive etymological research) to know what the individual pieces mean.
For example, {'ejDo'} means "starship." The syllable {'ej} also occurs in {'ejyo'} "Starfleet." There are, however,
no known Klingon words {'ej, Do',} or {yo'} that have anything to do with Starfleet, starships, the Federation, or
space vehicles of any kind. It is quite likely that {Do'} is an Old Klingon word for space vessel (the modern
Klingon word is {Duj}) that is used nowhere except in the noun {'ejDo'.} Of course, without further study, that
remains pure conjecture.
<<<<<<<<
He even writes about {jon} in the Introduction to the word list:
>>>>>>>>
The other word for "gunner," {matHa',} remains impervious to analysis. Sometimes one member of a set may be
partially analyzed. For example, {jonta'} "engine" begins with {jon,} which is also found in {jonwI'} "engineer," and
ends with {ta',} which also occurs in {mIqta'} "machinery."
<<<<<<<<
Okay, now "behind the scenes" somebody must admit that they changed the translation to a sentence and {vIjonta'
vIneH} "I wanted to capture" somehow became {jonta' neH} "just the engine". [any correct/additions?]
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH