tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 30 07:34:13 1996
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Re: Skybox season five klingon cards
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>Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 05:26:38 -0700
>From: [email protected] (Bill Willmerdinger)
>At the qep'a', I brought a transcription of two of the newest Klingon language
>Skybox cards. After getting home, I found that my girlfriend had gotten the
>third card. The text of all three cards follows.
Oooooooh!!!
>-----
>S25 tlhIngan vaS'a'
>juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'. ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH pa' ghom
>tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'. DaH che' ghawran. yejquv DevwI' moj ghawran 'e'
>wuqta' cho' 'oDwI' Dapu'bogh janluq pIqarD HoD.
Note "tu'lu'" for existence of the Great Hall. Ooh, don't think we ever
saw canon use of San before. And canon spelling of Gowron's name. I note
the phonology-breaking "pIqarD" transliteration; I suppose that makes sense
in some transliterations (we have people whose names in English are spelled
Nguyen or Mb... damn, can't remember the name of that politician... which
are not legal English initials). Personally, I'd probably still tend to
transliterate according to Klingon phonology most of the time (as does
Okrand, with "'enterpray'".)
>-----
>S26 lurSa' be'etor je
>DuraS tuq tlhIngan yejquv patlh luDub 'e' reH lunIDtaH DuraS be'nI'pu' lurSa'
>be'etor je. ngoDvam luchavmeH ghawran maghpu' be'nI'pu'. woQ luSuqmeH jIjpu'
>chaH romuluSngan'e' je.
>S26 Lursa and B'Etor
>The sisters of the House of Duras, Lursa and B'Etor, are constantly seeking a
>higher standing for the House of Duras within the Klingon High Council. To
>this end, the sisters have acted against Gowron, going as far as to work with
>Romulan factions in order to gain power.
>(Note: does the construction {DuraS be'nI'pu' lurSa' be'etor je} constitute
>apposition as I think it does? If so, that question is answered for good and
>all!)
Note "luDub 'e' reH lunIDtaH"; we would have said "reH 'e' lunIDtaH." I'm
not sure this necessarily invalidates our constructions (I hope it doesn't)
since adverbials CAN follow the object (see addendum)... but then again,
there's no -'e' on the 'e'. And I doubt it can *take* -'e'. May need to
check this out.
{DuraS be'nI'pu' lurSa' be'etor je} certainly looks like apposition to me!
Looks pretty settled.
Note "ghawran maghpu' be'nI'pu'." Nice usage of past *aspect*... but also
a missing lu- prefix. I think this has to be taken as an oversight
(clipping doesn't seem likely). We know Okrand regularly drops "lu-" in
"lutu'lu'" as well. Note the construction of jIj, using both as subjects
and not one as object (and no -chuq).
>-----
>S27 Qo'noS
>tlhIngan wo' yuQmey chovlu'chugh Qo'noS potlh law' Hoch potlh puS. roD 'oHvaD
>juHqo' neH. pa' 'oHtaH vaS'a''e'. tlhIngan qum waw' 'oH. yoq yIn yuQ 'oH
>Qo'noS'e'. yInSIp voQSIp je ngaS muDDaj.
>S27 Klingon Homeworld
>The principal planet of the Klingon Empire, Qo'noS is usually referrred to as
>simply "The Homeworld." This is where the Klingon Great hall is located, the
>center of the Klingon government. Qo'noS is a class-M planet with an oxygen/
>nitrogen atmosphere.
>------
>S27 gives us the words for oxygen ({yInSIp} "life gas") and nitrogen ({voQSIp}
>"choke gas"), as well as the word {roD} which I take to mean "usually" (but
>hadn't Okrand already given us {motlh} as "usually" on SP3?)
yInSIp and voQSIp are interesting. I recall that the Hebrew (Modern, of
course) word for nitrogen is "chanqan" from the root CH.N.Q. meaning
"suffocate". I suspect they got that from German or something (any German
speakers can confirm the German word for nitrogen? I know the Hebrew and
German words for oxygen are similar, both based on the root for "sour.")
Perhaps Okrand was thinking something similar.
Note use of "chov" in much the same way we've been using "qel" a great deal
lately. Very similar constructions, just a different shade of meaning.
Now, "roD" is a puzzlement. Maybe it does mean "usually", and we have a
rich field among motlh and roD and pIj. But the real problem is that
there's no verb in the sentence (unless roD is the verb, in which case its
placement is bizarre). "'oH" can't be the verb; it's got a noun suffix.
"neH" can't be the verb, due to its placement and semantic considerations.
I'm looking for a verb meaning "refer to"... "pong" would probably work
just fine. But it's lacking. Maybe an error, maybe a hidden meaning of
roD... this will need clarification.
~mark
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