tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Nov 20 22:31:58 1997

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Re: KLBC: insulting


Anthony.Appleyard wrote:
>[email protected] wrote:
>> When I say to somebody {taHqeq} this is like saying "Idiot!" (I
>> won't translate the real meaning here). If I want to say "He is an
>> idiot" can I just go {taHqeq ghaH} ?

That's what I'd say, but for all we know Klingon has special grammar 
for curses.  At some point you must make a decision about how wrong 
you are willing to risk being.  No one here predicted using jIH as 
the possessive for nouns of relative position (i.e. we must say {jIH 
Dung} not {DungwIj} for "the area above me.") and I don't remember 
ever hearing anyone doubt that possessive suffixes could be used on 
such nouns.  I expect such traps to be everywhere, but I've decided I 
can pull myself out of them if and when they are sprung.

>Some of the insults look strange if I treat them as the sum of their
>parts:- Qu'vatlh : {Qu' vatlh} = the 200th
>duty/quest/mission/task/chore Did this start as a complaint about
>overwork?

This exercise and analysis has been done several times, sometimes 
with speculations about how the words became curses or how 
they should be best be used.  I'm not going to actively discourage 
it, because it helps you learn both the curses and the words they 
appear to contain, but etymologically, the analysis is probably 
meaningless.  Or do you suggest that {Qovpatlh} has something to do 
with my status? :)  I don't want to hear anyone's speulations about 
{taQbang}.

When we find groups of words that seem to be similar and have 
similar meanings we unfortunately can't test our theories by 
examining ancient Klingon writings.  We could ask Marc, but he'd just 
smile and say "interesting, isn't it?"

Look up:
jat, jatlh, jach and ja'  
ngem ngeng ngech 
tlhutlh tlhuH tlhup tlhIch tlhuch 

If it helps you learn and remember the vocabulary, I don't really 
care what private conclusions you reach about them.  

-Qov

Qov     [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian

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