tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 14 09:07:24 2004

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Re: Klingon WOTD: Hop (v)

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

>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, July 14, 2004.
>
>Klingon word:   Hop
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     be remote, far

As used in canon:

   SuvwI' vI' Dub naQvam 'ej ray' HopDaq bachlu'meH chuqna' ghurmoH naQvam
   This serves to steady the aim of a warrior and increase the effective
   range for distance targeting. S14

   HaDlu'meH, QuSlu'meH, SuDlu'meH lojmIt Da logh Hop Hut tengchaH.
   vaj loghDaq lenglaHtaH Humanpu'
   space station Deep Space Nine is the gateway for the exploration,
   intrigue and enterprise that mark the continuation of the human
   adventure into space... DS99

Note the phrase {logh Hop} "deep space" and Okrand's translation of DS9 as 
{logh Hop Hut tengchaH}.

>Additional Notes:  Opposite of {Sum}.

   Sum Daqmeyvam, tera'ngan.
   These places are nearby, Terran. CK

Okrand mentioned {Hop} and {Sum} briefly on the old MSN expert.forum (Sep. 
1997):

   As for how to use {Sum} "be near, nearby"--that will require some
   more time with Maltz.  {Do' Sum matlh.}  I would think, however,
   that it would work the same way as {Hop} "be far".

After discussing it with Maltz, Okrand tried to explain it to Will Martin 
(charghwI') (HolQeD (Dec. 1998: 9-10):

   MO: Using the verbs {Sum} and {Hop} involves this concept [of deixis].
   WM: So I could not say {raSvam vISum to say, "I am near the table".
   MO: No. You'd just say {Sum raS}. The verb {Sum} implies that the
       speaker is the one the subject is near at the time of speaking.
          Hop jabwI'.
          The waiter is far from me right now.
   WM: Like if I wanted to say, "You are near the table", could I say
       {SoHvaD Sum raS}?
   MO: No.  You'd use {-Daq}:  {SoHDaq Sum raS}. This throws the orienta-
       tion away from the speaker (unmarked, unstated) and to the listener
       (marked, stated: "at you, where you are"). But you don't always
       need to state this overtly. Context is critical. For example:
          qagh largh SuvwI' ghung.  Sum qagh 'e' Sov.
          The hungry warrior smells the gagh.  He/she knows the
          gagh is nearby."
       The only interpretation of this (absent other information) is that
       the warrior knows the {gagh} is near the warrior, not the warrior
       knows the {gagh} is near the speaker of the sentences. If context
       isn't clear, you can clarify:
          Question: Sum'a' raS?
                    Is the table near (me)? (Am I near the table?)
          Answer:   HIja'.  Sum raS.
                    Yes.  The table is near (you).
          Answer:   ghobe'.  jIHDaq Sum raS.
                    No.  The table is near me.
   WM: And could I say {maSumchuq}?
   MO: No. You'd just say {bISum} or {SuSum}. If you haven't, in the course
       of the conversation, set things up otherwise, it's assumed that the
       event being talked about is taking place where the speaker is. In
       fact, {jISum} alone probably would make no everyday sense to a Klingon.
       "I am near me." But it does have an idiomatic philosophical sense,
       something like "I'm in touch with my inner self" (but in a Klingon sort
       of way, of course).



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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