tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 01 10:23:00 1999

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Re: RE: KLBC: Time & sleep.

I'm surprised that with your usual thorough manner you did not 
quote CK in its description that since Klingons are 
accommodating of foreigners, the guest rooms do come equipped 
with a bed. It then warns that the bed is most often made of the 
same material as the floor.

charghwI' 'utlh

On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 09:57:07 -0800 (PST) Steven Boozer 
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Ian Wilkinson:
> >QongDaq = bed, When I saw this I assumed it was sleep(ing) place. It's
> >just that we think of a bed as the place we sleep. Would a Klingon think 
> >of a QongDaq as an item of furniture (I know Klingons are not supposed to 
> >use beds) or maybe a room or part of a room. Would it be reasonable to call
> >the place an animal slept a QongDaq even though it is not a bed? Or is 
> >the QongDaq just the last place a Klingon did sleep or intended to sleep?
>  
> pagh:
> : To start with, although it's extremely likely that <QongDaq> is somehow
> : derived from <Qong> and <Daq> (or <-Daq>), we don't know *how* it is
> : derived. All we know is that it's a noun with two syllables.
> 
> On startrek.klingon (6/97) Okrand discussed this very problem:
> 
> 	{QongDaq} "could be a normal compound noun"--but the important word
> 	there is could: It could be a compound noun IF both {Qong} and {Daq} 
> 	are nouns. We know that {Daq} "place" is a noun; we know that {Qong} 
> 	is a verb (sleep); we don't know that {Qong} (presumably "sleep" or 
> 	"sleeping") is a noun. Maybe it is--but until we see it as a noun in 
> 	its own right (that is, in a place in a sentence where nouns occur 
> 	and in a construction where it's not attached to {Daq}) will we know 
> 	for sure. Until that time, it's a good hypothesis, but not a done deal
> 	... a word like {QongDaq} is evidence that at an earlier stage in the 
> 	language, there may have been a noun {Qong} (meaning "sleep" or 
> 	something similar). Or maybe there was a verb suffix {-Daq} meaning 
> 	"place where one does X". On the other hand, you may have uncovered 
> 	evidence that there is currently a noun {Qong}--it just hasn't been 
> 	attested anywhere else yet, so we should keep our eyes peeled. But 
> 	without further evidence, it's a guess.
> 
> : Even if Klingons don't use the elaborate beds that Terrans do, they must
> : have some sort of permanent sleeping areas, and these are called
> : <QongDaqmey>. The exact nature of these <QongDaqmey> may vary greatly
> : between regions, social classes, etc. In particular, we know that Klingon
> : ships have bunks, even if they are basically just metal shelves.
> 
> We saw one of these metal shelf-like bunks aboard a Bird of Prey in TNG
> "Unification, Pt.1".  We also know from "Conversational Klingon" that
> hotels {mebpa'mey} (lit. "guest-rooms/quarters") have them; the Terran
> guest was warned that:
> 
> 	letqu' QongDaq. 
> 	The bed is very hard. CK
> 
> This, and the proverb
> 
> 	QongDaqDaq Qotbe' tlhInganpu' 
> 	Klingons do not lie in bed. TKW
> 
> implies that a {QongDaq} is some type of furniture, if fairly basic by
> human standards.
> 
> : I don't really know how Klingons would view places where animals sleep. I am
> : pretty certain a basket with pillows and a blanket for a Terran dog or cat
> : would rate a <QongDaq>, but it would probably get a <-qoq> and a sneer as
> : well.
> 
> If you really need to say this, how about {QongmeH Daq} "a place for
> sleeping" for animals, to distinguish it from the noun {QongDaq}?  The
> pattern "Verb+{meH} Noun" turns out to be fairly productive in Klingon:
> e.g. {QongmeH Duj} a "sleeper ship" (SkyBox S15).  
> 
> 
> -- 
> Voragh                       
> Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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