tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 31 19:41:45 1997

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RE: Questions & Announcement



January 30, 1997 10:41 PM EST, jatlh Christian Weisgerber:

> > > I think it's far from clear that {Daq} is the correct or indeed the
> > > logical term for a "web site". [...]
> > 
> > So, what's the German word for this idea?  How does it translate
> > (either into English or Klingon)?
> 
> German netizens handle this in two ways:
> 1. Some treat "web site" as a new concept and simply borrow the English
>    word.
> 2. Others, who are more conservative when it comes to borrowing English
>    terms, either refer to their "Seiten" (pages) or their "Server"
>    (server; a well-established borrowing), depending on what's
>    applicable.

Yes, but why is it called a "page" at all?  How did that word come to be used? 
 And I'll bet that the use of "Seiten" is just a literal translation of the 
English term.

> More importantly, no German word for any kind of location is used. I
> think if somebody did, it would not even be intelligible, well, maybe
> from context. IMHO this implies that the "web site" <-> "location"
> analogy is not universal, and thus cannot be taken as granted when
> looking for a Klingon term.

Given this new information, I agree with you.

> Thaddaeus proposed {HaSta}, "visual display". The English translation
> is ambiguous, does {HaSta} refer to (1) what is displayed or to (2) the
> device doing the displaying?
> If (1) it might be applicable, especially if there is no other word to
> denote "page". Since WWW is a hypertext system, the idiomatic use of
> "page" would conceivably carry over to tlhIngan Hol.

I wouldn't accept {HaSta}.  I've heard it refer to "picture," "television 
screen," and even "chalkboard."  It seems that anything anyone looks at is a 
candidate for {HaSta}, and that I don't buy.  My *guess* is that {HaSta} 
refers to the image displayed on some sort of screen, as opposed to the actual 
device that displays it.  We also have {jIH} "viewing screen."  Besides, the 
Klingon commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture says both {wIy cha'} and 
{HaSta}, presumably on the same screen.

I've just read Voragh's explanation of the MSN description of this term, 
though, and I am once again disappointed by what I hear.

> As for "link", I don't really like {He}. I'm unsure which connotations
> it carries, "route" certainly makes me think of very different things.
> {rarwI'} "connector" maybe? We don't have a word for "pointer", "to
> point at s.th.", do we?

I'm beginning to think that if a Klingon came across a computer connected to 
our Internet, he'd say {jIHvaD DIvI' Hol mu'mey bolo'bogh yIja'!}

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97086.9


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