tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 07 08:12:16 1998
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Re: Yet more questions
"Patrick Masterson" wrote:
: >>make decimal numbers (like 1.45)
: >
: >KGT p239 decimal point vI'
:
: I know about the decimal point, but how would it be used?
: There aren't any combining forms, like -maH "tens", for tenths and
: hundredths.
There's an example of a decimal Stardate on SkyBox card S33. The English
translation for this sentence was lacking on the card for some reason, so I've
provided my own:
HovpoH Hut vagh cha' wa' vI' jav Dujvam 'aghlu'pu' 'ach Qaw'lu'pu'
[This ship was demonstrated on Stardate 9521.6 but it was destroyed.]
You don't need to deal with tenths, hundreths, etc. Just read off the string
of digits: "Stardate nine five two one point six". So in the original
question, just read 1.45 as {wa' vI' loS vagh}.
If the number is zero plus two decimal places (e.g. 0.25), then you have a
percentage and can use {vatlhvI'} instead:
cha'maH vagh vatlhvI' Hong - QIt yIghoS!
Slow to one quarter impulse power. ST5
(lit. "Twenty five percent impulse power - proceed slowly!")
As before, Okrand gave the number as sort of a time stamp or topic at the
beginning of the sentence, then made a statement about it. Whether this is
the
common pattern or simply a coincidence we can't say on the basis of only two
examples.
{vI'} must be distinguished from {DoD} "mark (in coordinates)":
He pagh pagh pagh DoD cha' yInab!
Plot course zero-zero-zero, mark two. ST5
Many people on this list also use {DoD} for the separator dot in email
addresses and URLs (e.g. "www.kli.org") and numbered paragraphs (e.g. "TKD
3.3.5"). We don't know which method the Klingons use, if any.
Note that {vI'} appears as an element in {vatlhvI'} "percent" (apparently
"hundredth"). Does this imply the existance of *{maHvI'} "tenth", *{SaDvI'}
"thousandth", etc.? We don't know, and Maltz isn't talking. Until he does,
it's best to stick with using attested methods if you want to be understood by
others.
_________________________________________________________________________
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)