tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Apr 20 16:33:51 1997

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RE: KLBC: Re: be'pu'

jatlh mIqIraH:

> > "Spanish women" would be {*Spain* be'pu'}, just as "Klingon women" would 
be
> > {tlhIngan be'pu'}.
> 
> Are you sure?  I would think that {*Spaniard* be'pu'} is like {tlhIngan
> be'pu'}, and {*Spain* be'pu'} would apply if "Klingon women" was {Qo'noS
> be'pu'}.  Klingons come from Kronos, Spaniards come from Spain.

Well, though {romuluSngan} means "inhabitant of Romulus" and {vulqangan} means 
"inhabitant of Vulcan," {tlhIngan} does not mean "inhabitant of {tlhIn}" (or 
at least, it no longer does).  Klingons are {tlhInganpu'}, not 
{Qo'noSnganpu'}.  {tlhIngan} has come to mean the race, not where they're 
from.

My analogy to {*Spain* be'pu'} is not quite correct as you point out.  
However, "women of Spain" is exactly what we're trying to say.  English tends 
to make adjectives out of words like "American" and "Spanish," but in Klingon 
they're just nouns.  However, we do have lots of canon for things like this 
({DIvI' Duj}, {tlhIngan Hol}, etc.).

> Admittedly, using the word "Spaniard" like that sounds fairly lame, but
> I think it is more consistent with the example we have.  Yes, {*Spain*
> be'pu'} means "women of Spain," but there could be a American women in
> Spain who would fall under that title.  Similarly, if you said {Qo'noS
> be'pu'}, it would refer to "women of Kronos," but that would seem not to
> imply Klingons, but simply the women that are presently on or from
> Kronos.

No.  {*Spain* be'} would mean "women of Spain," not "women who just happen to 
be in Spain right now."  If I've lived in the city my whole life, and I take a 
vacation to the country, I don't say I'm a country boy.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97303.1

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