tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Apr 14 08:19:05 2006
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Re: {vo'wI'} "propeller"?
Shane MiQogh:
> > vo'wI' ghajtaHchugh'a'?
QeS:
>Remember that {-chugh} and {-'a'}, both being type 9, can't go on the same
>word. I would just recast to {teHtaH'a' vo'wI' ghajchugh} "does it continue
>to be true if it has propellors?".
Personally, I would reverse the clauses: {vo'wI' ghajchugh
teHtaH'a'?} Cf. the beautifully balanced line from {SeQpIr} in the
original Klingon:
cheqotlhchugh maHaghbe''a'? cheDuQchugh mareghbe''a'?
cheQIHchugh manoDbe''a'?
"Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed?
Wrong us, shall we not seek revenge?" (TKW)
I really like the sound of ending such sentences with a properly enunciated
{-'a'}. E.g. Chang's wonderfully condescending response to the warden of
Rura Penthe in ST6:
DaSovbej'a'? bISuDrup'a'?
Are you sure? Will you take that chance?
> Also remember that "propellor" doesn't
>just refer to a fan-style plane prop, but to all devices that propel, by
>whatever means. Jet skis have {vo'wI'mey}: the jet device counts as a
>{vo'wI'}.
Indeed. Qov (who is a pilot IRL) has used *{vo'wI'} for both prop and jet
engines IIRC.
>(And in answer, I'll just say: have you looked at your average boat motor?
>If that little fan down the bottom of a boat motor isn't a propellor, I'll
>eat my hat.)
There's a little-known quote from KCD executive producer Keith Halper in
the appendix of the novelization of "Star Trek: Klingon!" (p. 212) which is
relevant:
[Okrand's] literal translation is always skewed a bit, so if you
send him "Row, row, row your boat", you'll get back "Propel, propel,
propel your craft".
This sounds like an actual comment from Okrand which implies that *{vo'wI'}
can also mean "oar, paddle" or even "rower, oarsman" in the right context.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons