tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 16 08:46:31 1997
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RE: KLBC: naDev bIrbejqu'!
- From: Mark Mandel <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: naDev bIrbejqu'!
- Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 11:42:06 -0500
ghItlh SuStel:
>>>>>
> > Hat bIr ja' muDtej.
> > The weatherman reported a cold temperature.
>
> Not a low one?
True.
<DaHjaj bIr muD> ja' muDtej.
<<<<<
Why do we call a cold temperature "low"? Possibly because of the
image of a liquid thermometer (whether mercury or alcohol), but
more likely because of the way we map temperature to numbers and
numbers to height.
You may mutter, "I was with you till you mentioned height". The
basic meaning of "high" and "low" is distance from the ground. We
use the metaphor of distance from the ground ("height") to refer
to numbers, and, by transference, to non-spatial things that we
map to numbers, and even some spatial things that aren't vertical:
I got my lowest grade all term on this test!
The temperature is rising.
The rate of inflation is leveling off.
Turn around. This address is higher than the one we want.
Grades, temperature, inflation, and street addresses have no
(relevant) altitude, but we talk about them with the height
metaphor that is standard for numbers in English. But is this
metaphor used in Klingon? I don't think we have any evidence for
it. (For that matter, how widespread is it in Terran languages?)
So I prefer SuStel's alternative,
<DaHjaj bIr muD> ja' muDtej
(If you're interested in how metaphor is at the heart of even
the most commonplace uses of language, read George Lakoff & Mark
Johnson's books _Metaphors We Live By_ and _Women, Fire, and
Dangerous Things_.)
marqem, tlhIngan veQbeq la'Hom -- Heghbej ghIHmoHwI'pu'!
Subcmdr. Markemm, Klingon Sanitation Corps -- Death to Litterbugs!
** Mark A. Mandel : [email protected] **
Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02160, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com/
Personal home page: http://world.std.com/~mam/