tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Mar 07 22:51:48 1997

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RE: KLBC: New words -- magic, magician



jatlh SuStel:

> jatlh T'Lark:

> (Wait a minute!  You've named yourself after a traitorous Klingon from the 
> CD-Rom!)

jIHvaD T'Lark vIpongbe' jIH.  jIHvaD 'oH pong jupwI'.  'ach tlhIngan pong
'oHbe', vulqangan pong 'oH.  chalDaq bombogh tera' Ha'DIbaH 'oH <Lark>'e', ej
vulqangan be' pong moHaq 'oH <T'>'e'.

 >> Not every language has a single, simple word for every concept.  If I had to
>> quote Clarke's Law to a Klingon, I would define a word from DIvI' Hol and 
>> then use that.

> If the Klingons generally don't believe in magic in the same sense that we 
> tend to, then this is the way to go!  [...]  It does, of course, require a 
> knowledge of the English word.

No, it only requires a knowledge of the concept.  If I'm defining a word only to
use it in another definition, then the word itself is merely a placeholder.  I
could just as well say {Doch wIqelbogh} in both places.

>> wanI'mey SeHlu'meH qa' Dep qa' HoS ghap lura'lu'chugh, <magic> lo'lu'.

> Well, to say "nonhumanoid's spirit," you say {Dep qa'}, not {qa' Dep}.  [...]

I wanted 'spirit being or spirit power'.  I suppose if I want one noun to modify
another, but not in a possessive sense, I should use a compound noun rather than
a noun-noun construction.

> You've said, "In order that one controls events, if one has either a 
> nonhumanoid's spirit or a strong spirit, one uses magic."
> I'm not quite sure *why* you said this, if this is what you meant.

I meant, "If, in order that one controls events, one commands a spirit being or
spirit power, then one is using magic."  Let's make that:

wanI'mey SeHlu'meH qa'Dep qa'HoS ghap lura'lu'chugh, <magic> lo'lu'.

jatlh <Clarke's Law>: 'Itlhqu'chugh jan, vaj <magic> rurchu'.


T'Lark



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