tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 09 09:08:30 1998
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RE: KLBC -- Glass eating!
: lab Michael:
: > I live in a college dorm, and there is a posting up which has
: > "I eat glass, it does not hurt me" in many different languages;
: > unfortunately, I can't find a Klingon word for glass (I assume
: > they would be able to discover the process of making glass...).
: > Here's how I've translated it:
: > Dochmey jej vISoplaH, mu'oy'be'
: > I am able to eat sharp things, they do not hurt me.
:
: We do not know the word (if there is one at all) for glass, so there's not
: much we can do. Someone suggested something with <HIvje'>, but <HIvje'> can
: refer to any drinking vessel. Most of the Klingon drinking vessels we have
: seen on TV have been metal, and most of the rest looked ceramic.
That's the danger of a too literal reliance on the glossary, where "glass
(tumbler)" is translated by {HIvje'}. As pagh has mentioned, this refers to
the container (*any* drinking vessel), not the material it is made of. Not
that I doubt that Klingons have a type of glass, we just don't know the word
for it. Okrand explains {HIvje'} in Klingon for the Galactic Traveller:
"A container from which drinks are consumed is a {HIvje'}. This word is used
for any sort of drinking vessel: glass, cup, mug, stein, goblet, tumbler, and
so on. If necessary, {HIvje'} can also be used to refer to drinking vessels
normally not associated with Klingon culture--for example, crystal stemware.
Since certain drinks are typically associated with certain containers, saying
the type of drink plus {HIvje'} indicates the type of cup or glass as well:
{'Iw HIq HIvje'} ("bloodwine glass"), {qa'vIn HIvje'} ("coffee mug"), {baqghol
HIvje'} ("bahgol cup"). Unless specified further, {HIq HIvje'} ("liquor
glass")
usually means a tankard or stein for beer or ale. ... Some drinks are
served in
special containers, such as the {runpI'} ("teapot") used in the making of
{Dargh} ("tea"), and are then poured into the appropriate {HIvje'}." (p.98f)
and:
"Tea may be made either in a teapot ({runpI'}) or directly in the teacup
({Dargh HIvje'}, or, if not a cup specifically designed for drinking tea, just
{HIvje'})." (p.96)
To get back to Michael's wish to "eat glass", try substituting another
substance, say {qutmey} "crystals" or {qut lughorlu'bogh} "broken crystal".
The use of "crystal" as a substitute for glass is not so farfetched. We aften
refer to fine glassware as crystal. And, as it happens, today is the
anniversary of "Reichskristallnacht" -- the centrally-organized Nazi pogrom on
the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938 throughout Germany. They called it Kristallnacht
("crystal night") because after the windows of Jewish homes and businesses
were
shattered by stone and brick-throwing thugs, all the shards of glass on the
streets glittering in the lights reminded people of broken crystal. Some
witnesses even thought it was quite pretty, in a macabre way.
: pagh
: Beginners' Grammarian
_________________________________________________________________________
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)