tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Sep 15 18:29:44 1996

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Re: nIDwIj wa'DIch



96-09-15 13:29:36 EDT, jatlh Qob:

> And, in our example, {... 'oHvaD ...} refers to something already explicity
>  named in the previous sentence.  But, the example has the *name* {Qo'noS}
>  represented by {'oHvaD} and the description {juHqo'} in the name slot.
 This
>  is where I'm getting confused.

The translation into English runs something like "Kronos is usually called
'the Homeworld.'"  Take a look at where I put the quotes.  Here, {juHqo'}
"homeworld" is the name, and it's applied to Kronos.

If I wanted to say "The Klingons name their homeworld 'Kronos'," I could say
{juHqo'chajvaD Qo'noS lupong tlhInganpu'}.  Similarly, if I wanted to say
"The Klingons call Kronos 'The Homeworld'," I would say {Qo'noSvaD juHqo'
lupong tlhInganpu'}.

Also consider this English example:

Mother: "We named John when he was born."
Friend: "What did you name John?"

The answer's kind of obvious, isn't it?

SoS: boghDI', *John* wIpong

However, in Klingon, because of the use of {-vaD}, the joke makes no sense:

jup: *John*vaD nuq bopong?

It ain't funny.  The mother could have been more specific and said:

SoS: boghDI', ghuma'vaD *John* wIpong

SuStel
Stardate 96708.5


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