tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 13 09:10:26 1997

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Re: Hallmark Commercial (was Re: lut tlhaQ)

:> |> Actually in the Hallmark commerical <wov> was used as a noun.
:> |
:> |Did Okrand write the dialogue for that commercial?  
:> |
:> |SuSvaj
:> 
:> Yes he did, though the last couple of lines are somewhat uncertain since
:> they were mangled by the two actors playing crewmen. (Robert O'Reilly,
:> however, did a good job with his lines). Anyone know what they were? 
:
:toH, tlhIngan Hol DIp teH 'oH <wov> 'e'.  QaQqu'!!
:
:However I find the sentence *Qapqu' wov, po' 'oH jan Hov'e'* somewhat
:bewildering.  I can believe that <wov> refers to the mechanical lights, but
:*jan Hov* is strange.  It doesn't actually mean "star device".  That would
:be *Hov jan*.  
:
:SuSvaj

I thought so too. But arguing Klingon meaning based on the word order of its
*English* translation is pointless. There is no reason to assume that
Klingon arranges the elements of a compound word exactly the same as
English. Klingons may weigh the importance of the elements differently than
do English speakers. And, although Okrand is a native English speaker
himself, we all know that on occasion he will intentionally do things
"backwards" or oddly just to make the language different from the other
Terran languages he may know.

That being said, however, I now wonder if the word is really <janHom>, a
"little device", i.e. a "gizmo".  It fits:  po' 'oH janHom'e' (the crewman
is admiring the workmanship of this clever little gizmo; remember, this is
still a sales pitch!). The ornament was was also referred to by Gowron as a
<tlhIngan toQDujHom>, "a [miniature] Klingon Bird-of-Prey". Why didn't I
think of this before? 

Now I definitely must dig out that tape and watch it again.


-- Voragh

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