tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 15 21:47:32 1994
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Re: the verb "taH"
ghItlh Teodoro Gelabert:
>[email protected] said:
>>The enemy vessel's coordinates are one-oh-four mark negative fifty-two
>
>Not to be nit-picking but we won't arrive at the answer with
>mis-information (certainly not implied to be intentional) so....
>
>Coordinates are supplied as locations on an X,Y,Z grid (with the
>center of the galaxy being 0,0,0. Bearings are supplied as a point on two
>circles. One around the horizontal plane of the the ship and the other around
>the vertical plane of the ship (the vert. is said first and the horiz. is
>the mark degree).
Straight from the _Star Fleet Technical Manual_, I see. There, the
coordinates are a "phi, theta, R" system, using grads as the angular
unit. "-30 mark 300 R 50,000 kilometers" means "9 o'clock low, range
50,000 klicks".
>I don't think either is what is meant by a negative angle. Of course I am
>working with Federation techniqes here - who knows what Klingons do for
>navigational purposes - though I don't imagine it to be much
>different.
Well, in _The Final Reflection_, it's stated the Klingons use some
sort of system based on triangles. The displays in _Star Trek: TMP_
have a triangular grid, as well.
>Personally I think the negative angle thing comes form two dimensional
>thinkers (no insult intended). In other words it is an outright mistake.
>Most often I have heard it used when a vessel was starting to move with
>regards to pitch towards its "underside."
Well, I do happen to know you need three coordinates to specify
something in 3-space, and am just as irked by the 2d mindset displayed
in the filmed material (except when extra dramatic effect is needed).
Perhaps a better example would have been:
wa'vatlh loS DoD vaghmaH taH 'oH jagh Dujna' lurgh.
The enemy vessel's bearing is one-oh-four mark negative fifty-two.
I just happened to decide not to include something like:
wa'bIp qelI'qam 'oH chuqDaj'e'.
-QumpIn 'avrIn [email protected]