tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 23 14:28:17 1996

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RE: bomlut = opera

jatlh DloraH:

>  what would you call bomlutHom?

Okay, look people: when compounding nouns, there may be a certain vagueness in 
the translation.  Assuming a Klingon would even recognize the word {bomlut}, 
he might or might not equate it exactly with "opera."  Maybe he would consider 
it to be any narrative which uses song as its vessel.  Maybe he would think it 
is only referring to Klingons standing on a stage and singing.  Maybe he would 
equate it with that really cool festival which Worf and Alexander participated 
in in one episode of The Next Generation (whatever it was called).  Because 
you're compounding the noun yourself, it's difficult to be certain.

Using the suffixes {-Hom} and {-'a'} can be equally vague.  We had a problem 
like this some months ago concerning how one would translate {veng} with the 
suffixes attached.  It was then that we all came to know that even between the 
UK and the US, the same terminology can refer to different things.  How can 
you possibly make statements about what exactly {bomlutHom} is when you're not 
entirely sure what {bomlut} is?

In cases like this, it's probably best to use that which is most appropriate 
to the context at the time.  For example, in one story I may describe one of 
those interactive festival performances and call it {bomlut}, and then 
describe a traditional masterpiece Klingon opera {bomlut'a'}.  Someone else 
may talk about the same opera and call it {bomlut}, and then talk about a 
nursery rhyme sung to a Klingon child and describe it as a {bomlutHom}.  
Without knowing the usual Klingon definitions (and I suspect that these 
suffixes are used by Klingons not as absolute scale markers, but as relative 
markers based on the situation), one cannot accurately say "This is this and 
that is that."  Just use whatever seems appropriate to the context.

SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 96897.6

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