tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 18 08:57:46 1996
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Re: The Finished stone?????
- From: "Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: The Finished stone?????
- Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 11:57:43 -0500 (EST)
- In-reply-to: <[email protected]> (message from DavidBarron on Fri, 15 Mar 1996 22:40:15 -0800)
>Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 22:40:15 -0800
>From: David Barron <[email protected]>
>>
>> David Barron writes:
>> >I am trying to figure out the a decent way of saying
>> >"the finished/competed stone."
>> >Context: as in a stone that a stone mason has worked on and
>> >finished.
>>
>> >1) nagh ta'lu'bogh <-I think this one works best
>> I like this one
>>
>> >2) nagh Qav
>> >3) bagh naQ
>> not quite sure about these
>>
>> >Give it a shot.
>>
>> vInID:
>>
>> How about: nagh rInlu'bogh
>>
>> I like {rIn} because the object has been accomplished, thus: the stone which
>> someone has finished.
>> While in {ta'} I get: the stone which someone is finishing.
>Hmmmm..... I get your point.
>I considered {rIn} for a while but somehow I kept
>rejecting it....I am not sure why.
>Grammarians, could you give it a shot?
Hmm. I don't like any of the solutions so far. I think they're getting
caught up in the polysemy of "finished." A "finished" stone in the sense
that you're talking about has very little to do with the notion of finished
or accomplished. I means "prepared" or "crafted". It's not "the last
stone," it's not "a complete stone" it's not "an accomplished stone"... how
do you accomplish a stone? I can accomplish a deed, but a rock? It's not
a stone which is completed either: the stone is a stone. In fact it's
probably less complete than it was when the mason started to chip bits off
of it. It's the *MASON* who is finished with the stone, that's where the
word comes from in English.
I don't know that there's a good, simple word in Klingon. Maybe use
something with "-beH": chenbeHmoHbogh nagh? Maybe playing a little fast
with the meaning of "chenmoH"; since the stone isn't doing the building,
but it *is* causing the building to take form... leghbeHlu'bogh nagh?
Ick... but something like that. -beH is likely a Good Thing to use here,
if you can make it work. And besides, how often do we get to use -beH?
But remember to translate the meaning. "Finished" in this sense has only a
very weak connection to the ideas of "ta'" and "rIn" and "Qav". We call it
"finished" because it's the worker who's finished with them. A better word
might be "worked."
~mark
"bInajtaHvIS, loQ jIH HIghom." -- SoSoypu' vavoypu' je.