tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jul 31 04:50:59 1994
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Klingon math, et al
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Klingon math, et al
- Date: Sun, 31 Jul 94 16:47:15 EDT
charghwI'vo'
I FINIALLY GOT MY COPY OF HolQeD YESTERDAY! Of course, I
immediately ate it, right? So, as I digested it, I, of course,
came up with my usual corrections and suggestions.
Between the two rows of asterisks below, please consider this
to be an article for HolQeD. From others, I welcome comments.
*************************************************************
latlhvo' tlhIngan mI'QeD nger
charghwI'vo'
David Barron's article in HolQeD v3 #2 caused me to think a lot
about numbers. For that, I thank him. Now, I'd like to suggest
a different approach to math.
First, for those who are concerned with such matters,
there is one typo: {wa'maH qa'vaD} should be {wa'maH wa'vaD}.
Meanwhile, I think it is far less awkward to use a clearly
transitive verb, like {moj}, "become". Since math changes one
number into a different number, it would be natural to say,
"Two plus two becomes four." Continuing in this effort to
express numbers in a less awkward manner, I will take his same
examples and express them another way.
For addition, I see two easy ways to express 73 + 11 = 84:
wa'maH wa' chelchugh SochmaH wej vaj chorghmaH loS moj.
"If seventy three adds eleven, then it becomes eighty four."
chorghmaH loS moj wa'maH wa' chelbogh SochmaH wej'e'.
Initially, I did not think it would be important to
indicate the head noun of the relative clause in this second
example, but upon further reflection, I think it is clearer to
say "Seventy three, which adds eleven, becomes eighty four,"
rather than "Eleven, which is added to seventy three, becomes
eighty four." I think it all depends upon how the Klingon mind
interprets the verb {chel}, and I think we lack the confirming
information to presume it to be reflexive. Here, I thank
Krankor for developing a standard Okrand found acceptable for
indicating the head noun of a relative clause.
Notice that neither of these expressions involve the somewhat
controversial use of {-vaD}. While TKD plainly states that
grammatically, numbers are used in the same way as nouns, it
never states that it is acceptable to use noun suffixes on
numbers. This consideration might dissuade one from using
{-vo'} with numbers, as well.
For subtraction, the exact same models apply:
javmaH Soch nge'chugh wa'vatlh vaj wejmaH wej moj.
"If one hundred takes away sixty seven, then it becomes thirty
three."
wejmaH wej moj javmaH Soch nge'bogh wa'vatlh'e'.
"One hundred, which takes away sixty seven, becomes thirty
three."
I wanted to offer a far simpler model of multiplication than
the one previously offered. I could say 2 x 3 = 6 in English
as "Twice three becomes six." Hence the following error:
SochmaH chorgh moj javlogh wa'maH wej. [note: this is WRONG.]
"Six times thirteen becomes seventy eight."
Unfortunately, that doesn't work. I hope my attempt to explain
what I believe to be the grammatical issues in question will
not substantially offend the professional linguists among
HolQeD's readers. I posit that Adverbs in English can modify
either verbs or adjectives, and, in English, numbers can act
as adjectives, so the adverb "twice" can, in English, be
applied to "three" because English so successfully hides words,
and we can presume that three is an adjective modifying some
unstated noun.
A number with the {-logh} suffix becomes an adverbial, and in
Klingon, adverbials only apply to verbs and they preceed both
the verb and any present object of that verb. So how can we
accommodate this?
SochmaH chorgh moj javlogh chenbogh wa'maH wej.
"Thirteen, which takes form six times becomes seventy eight."
If that fails to suit you, you might try:
SochmaH chorgh moj javlogh wa'maH wej wavHa'lu'bogh.
"Thirteen, which is undivided six times, becomes seventy
eight."
Consider that the Klingon mind often approaches a concept from
a very different angle. Just as {par} is closer to a Klingon's
heart and "like" is closer to a Human's heart, I suggest that
division may be closer to a Klingon's consciousness than
multiplication. Consider that the verb appears in the most
ancient of Klingon sayings, {yIwav 'ej yIchargh}, which humans
have mimicked in a less original version.
This gives a preview to my approach to division:
Soch moj wa'maH wejlogh HutmaH wa' wavlu'bogh.
"Ninety one, which is divided thirteen times, becomes
seven."
If you have a problem with interpeting this, insisting that the
word "divide" implies "dividing into half", you could become
more specific and say:
chenmeH wa'maH wej ghommey nIb Soch ngaSbogh ghommey'e' ghaj
HutmaH wa'.
"In order that thirteen identical groups form, ninety one
has groups which contain seven."
Thank you. While I cannot feed the world, I can, at times,
inventively speak Klingon. It is a small badge of genius,
but I wear it proudly.
Moving on to fractions, I would state "one seventh" as
{Sochlogh wa' wavlu'bogh}. "One, which is divided seven times".
For those who would insist that dividing something seven times
might be interpreted as cutting it in half seven times, I
attempt once again to be profoundly unambiguous:
[Drum roll]:
wavDI' wa' chenbogh Soch 'ay' nIbvo' wa'
"One from the seven identical sections that take form when one
is divided"
[Tada! Applause. Subtle acknowledgement.]
For those wishing the details pointed out to them, the noun at
the core of this clause is {wa'} or "one". We express "from the
seven identical sections" as {Soch 'ay' nIbvo'} because type 5
noun suffixes follow adjectival verbs applied to the noun {'ay}
instead of to the noun itself, and because when you modify a
noun with a number, a plural suffix is unnecessary. This saves
me from having to distinguish between {-mey} if this is a
section of a blood pie, or {-Du'} if this is a section of an
unfortunate enemy.
My personal approach to the example "Send a quarter of your
army to France," takes a somewhat different course:
"France"Daq loS 'ay' nIb ngaSbogh mangghomlIjvo' wa' 'ay'
tIngeH.
"From your army, which has four identical sections, send one
section to France."
So now you may choose which tools you wish to use for Klingon
math. Which blade do you consider to be sharper?
***************************************************************
For general interest, here is my translation of the SkyBox
trading card:
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Wait... It is next to the course which is followed in order
that one roams to the universe's unknown reagion at the
galaxie's edge. [This refers to the worm-hole.]
In order it is studied, in order that it is conspired [?], in
order that a risk is taken, the Deep Space Nine space station
behaves like a door. [Does this mean no one listens next to it
when it is open?]
[The question mark is because {QuS} REALLY doesn't seem like a
very transitive verb, yet a {-lu} suffix ALWAYS implies an
object. Similarly, {SuD} listed as "gamble, take a chance, take
a risk" becomes "In order that one gambles it" or "in order
that it is gambled". I transformed this "it" into the "risk"
that
is "taken". Of the entire translation, {QuSlu'meH} seems the
strangest choice of words.]
Thus, Humans can continue to roam in space. Space is the last
boundary. [Probably as close to "frontier" as the vocabulary
would support]
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I might also submit my slightly modified old mu'mey noy from
the Addams Family motto:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nucharghta' luneHpu'bogh chaH wISopmo' muQuchqu'
Original: "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us."
Literal: "We are very happy because we eat them who have wanted
that they had conquered us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As for the great insult contest, I submit:
...............................................................
tlhIngan Hol DajalthtaHDI' "Worf" QIch rur QIchlIj!
...............................................................
'IwlIj jachjaj.
charghwI'