tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 07 14:33:23 1995
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Re: Re[2]: ranks and titles (was Suppletion)
>Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 13:19:06 -0800
>From: [email protected]
>On Tue, 7 Nov 1995 ~mark wrote:
><snip- that I agree with>
>>I think we still do need "ta'be'" in Hamlet,
>Aaaarrrrgh! Please don't use that form! I hear <ta'be'> and I think "not
>accomplish." What is wrong with using <be'ta'>? We have equal TKD examples of
>the <be'> going before or after the other noun. Please re-think that useage,
>especially in light of the "to be, or not to be" cannon.
I'm sorry about the homophony of "ta'be'" and "not accomplish"... but then,
I don't hear you complaining about using "ta'" for "King" because it sounds
like it means "accomplish." It's simply the way the language works out.
Homophony happens. It's not really our fault. "ta'be'" is constructed
along the lines of "puqbe'" (which is NOT *be'puq), and also is
reminiscient of "ta' be'[nal]" (though it doesn't necessarily mean just
that). This is probably significant, since in my mind "be'ta'" means, if
anything, a reigning queen, i.e. a queen who is the sovereign ruler in her
own right (e.g. Queen Elizabeth), and not a queen who is queen because she
happens to be married to the king. Gertrude is definitely in the latter
category: Claudius is the King, and she is his Royal Consort.
I don't see what the "to be or not to be" cannon (taH pagh taHbe') has to
do with any of this.
You may have quoted them already, but I can't bring them to mind. Can you
cite the other cannon examples of "be'" going before the other noun in
compounds?
>>since, twist the history though we might, Hamlet reflects human biases, not
>>Klingon ones. So it's very important for understanding the assorted cultural
>>nuances and sexual stereotypes and cultural norms at play in Hamlet that the
>>audience know that Claudius is the reigning king, male, and Gertrude his wife,
>>female, formerly wife to his brother, Hamlet.
>Whoa. I know it's been a while since I read Hamlet. But I thought Hamlet was
>Gertrude's son. I thought Hammy's dad had a different name.
There is a Hamlet who is Gertrude's son, and he's the one who's in most of
the play. But his father was also called Hamlet, and that's the one I was
referring to.
~mark