tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Oct 22 20:42:40 1997
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Fw: Weights and Measures
- From: "Neal Schermerhorn" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Fw: Weights and Measures
- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 23:46:42 -0400
A reply to a MSN BBS question I posed.
Qermaq
-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Okrand <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: msn.onstage.startrek.expert.okrand
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 1997 12:25 AM
Subject: Re: Weights and Measures
>Neal <[email protected]> wrote in article
><01bcc14d$0a6401a0$6a492399@dtorvtwg>...
>> Marc:
>>
>> In KGT you give us some great words - Saw' (have a depth of), 'aD (have
>a
>> length of), muq (have a volume of), and ngI' (have a weight of).
>>
>> So can I say *vagh 'uj vI'aD* to mean 'I am five *'uj*s tall?
>>
>> I can certainly say *jav 'uj 'aD QongDaqwIj* and *cha' qelI'qam Saw'
>> ngengvam*. But what words do we use to indicate the volume or weight of
>> something?
>>
>> How about area?
>>
>> Qermaq
>>
>
>We don't know a whole lot about Klingon weights and measures, but here's a
>little more information that may be helpful.
>
>(1) The word for "have a width of" is <juch>.
>
>(2) There are two words used for length: <'aD> and <'ab>. Both of these
>can be translated "have a length of," but they are used somewhat
>differently. <'aD> is used in contrast with <juch> "have a width of" in
>measuring, say, a tabletop. <'ab>, on the other hand, is used for
>(potentially) longish, skinnyish things (for example, spears) and also for
>heights. Thus, one might say:
>
> jav 'ujmey 'ab SuvwI' "the warrior has a length of six ujs" (about 6'10")
>
>[<jav> "six"; <'ujmey>, plural of <'uj>, a unit of measure; 'ab "has a
>length of"; SuvwI' "warrior"]
>
>This might sound a little more natural as "the warrior stands six ujs" or
>"the warrior is six ujs tall."
>
>[Or should it be "ujes" in the translation?]
>
>One could also say:
>
> vagh 'ujmey vI'ab "I have a length of five ujs" (about 5'8")
> or "I'm five ujs tall"
>
>[<vagh> "five"; vI'ab "I have a length of"]
>
>And it is, of course, acceptable to leave out the plural suffix <-mey> when
>a number precedes the measure word, in this case <'uj>":
>
> wej 'uj 'ab naQjej "the spear has a length of three uj" (about 3'5")
> or "the spear measures three uj"
> or "the spear is three uj long"
>
>[<wej> "three"; naQjej "spear"]
>
>(3) The verb <juv> "measure" refers to the action of somebody who is taking
>a measurement:
>
> naQjej vIjuv "I measure the spear"
>
>[<naQjej> "spear"; <vIjuv> "I measure it"]
>
>
>(4) The only unit of volume I'm aware of is <tlho'ren>. I'm not exactly
>sure how much one <tlho'ren> is, but it seems to be in the quart/liter
>range.
>
>(5) A common unit of weight is <cheb>, which is around five pounds (2.25 kg
>or so).
>
>I'll have to do some more digging to find out about area.