tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 21 11:30:24 2004

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Re: DCKL: translating problem: desert vs. defect

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Quvar:
> >>like an empty, deserted station where everyone has left?

Voragh:
> >No.  That's {chIm} "be empty, be deserted, be uninhabited".

Quvar:
>Euhrrg, yes. I should more precise in these definitions:
>I asked if this is the same "desert" as in "be deserted"

I'm sure etymologically that's true.

>When you "desert" {choS} a place, it becomes "deserted" {chIm}

We usually say someone leaves or abandons a place.  Using "desert" has much 
stronger connotations of moral turpitude or even criminal behavior.

>When you "desert" from your military company, you "defect" {cheH}.

When you abandon your military company, you desert.  Deserters either go 
back to their homes or try to blend unobtrusively into the population, 
since desertion is a crime and the police will be looking for them.

When you abandon your military company AND JOIN THE ENEMY, you 
defect.  Again, joining the enemy - not merely leaving - is the crucial 
distinction.  Also, civilians can defect too; for example, during the Cold 
War if a scientist - particularly one in a defense-related field of 
research - illegally immigrated to a communist country for political 
reasons, we would say he had defected.

The difference between immigration and defection is that immigration is 
legal (you go through all the proper official channels on both sides: 
getting a passport and [in some countries] permission to leave, applying 
for a visa, etc.), defection is not.  Defecting is usually sudden and 
clandestine since it's a crime and, if caught, the defector will be 
prosecuted and possibly executed for treason, especially in time of war.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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