tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Mar 12 11:15:46 1999
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Re: RE: KLBC: Time & sleep.
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.
pagh:
: 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.
Voragh:
> 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.
charghwI':
: 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.
Good point. My transcript of "Conversational Klingon" only contains the
Klingon text with English translation, not Okrand's amusing asides and
commentary. Still, there *are* bunks/sleeping shelves on at least some
Klingon ships (I suppose that Picard could have been given the captain's
own cabin which wasn't representative of normal crew accomadations), and
there *is* a Klingon word for bed common enough to appear in a {vIttlhegh}.
It's interesting that {QongDaq} is an "analytic" word - made up of the
separate components {Qong} + {Daq} - and not an ancient or monosyllabic
"root" noun like {quS} "chair" or {raS} "table". Does this imply that beds
are of fairly recent invention, like the introduction of large, clunky
European-style beds into Japan, whose people traditionally slept on mats or
futons on the floor?
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons