tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 05 02:52:34 1999
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Re: *muSHa'* yImuSHa'!
- From: Carleton Copeland <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: *muSHa'* yImuSHa'!
- Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 13:53:20 +-400
- Encoding: 69 TEXT
jIja':
> pItlh.
ja' charghwI':
> 'e' vIHon.
Well, you got that right.
> As truly sentient beings with a plethora of WIDELY
> VARIED available experiences there is no single "supreme"
> emotion. You disrespect the vast majority of people and their
> experiences by defining how insignificant their chosen paths
> are when compared to one that you particularly like.
jIQochbe'chu'. How the [Klingon invective] you managed to interpret my
manifesto as exalting romantic love is beyond me. Are we both speaking
DIvI' Hol? I wrote: "We [= I] challenge [= *invite*, akin to *taking the
Pepsi challenge*] those who find <muSHa'> outside their comfort zone to
jettison [= *discard*] tera'ngan romantic notions of love as the supreme
emotion. [Such a notion of love is] wejpuH!"
I've always suspected that resistance to the word <muSHa'> had something to
do with its unromantic feel. ("How do I un-hate thee? Let me count the
ways".) In other words, some are still looking for a lovey-dovey
translation, and I'm telling them to get over it and *muSHa'* yImuSHa'!
> THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO FEEL THAN JUST LOVE,
> and these other things are exactly as valid and meaningful.
> Respect them.
bIlughbej. I love <muSHa'> for this very reason: it knocks love down a
peg by making it derivative of and paler than the stronger and more primary
emotion of hate. (I'm sure you'd agree that hate, in the Klingon sense,
need not be destructive; it may be hate of dishonor and injustice, hate
that rouses us against evil, whereas love of a certain kind can lull us
into tolerance of these.)
> My problem is that {muSHa'} as you propose it is not a word
> for the Klingon language. Instead, it is an encoding of the
> English word "love" so that {muSHa'} can be as mindlessly
> and meaninglessly used in Klingon as the word "love" is
> mindlessly and meaninglessly used in English ... There is
> always a clearer, more honest way to say whatever you are
> trying to say with the word {muSHa'}.
Dajqu'. I actually think natural languages thrive on vagueness and
ambiguity, but your argument that the lack of an all-purpose verb for
*love* might force Klingon speakers to recast and so be more concrete about
their meaning is something I hadn't considered--and should.
> Meanwhile, my life is not on hold while I yearn for
> resolution to a crushing need to fulfill the partnership
> that your "supreme" emotion requires.
All this anger I seem to bring out makes me wonder.
> A number of people here on this list love to argue.
qa' wIje'meH maSuv.
qa'ral
P.S. to Sustel: Thanks for your concern, but I'm not so easily insulted or
scared. The list wouldn't be Klingon without the occasional round of
forehead butting.