tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 18 12:46:14 1999
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Re: Cardassians, Bajorans, and Odo (oh my!)
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Cardassians, Bajorans, and Odo (oh my!)
- Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:45:56 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
- Priority: NORMAL
On Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:05:52 -0800 (PST) david joslyn
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Before anyone (read charghwI' voragh je) gets mad, I want you all to know
> something: Any Klingon-looking words in {braces} are canon words. Any
> words typed in <chevrons> are not and I MADE THEM UP. When I use canon
> words I shall try my best to list the source.
I don't get mad. I get even. {{:)>
> My post concerns how a Klingon would refer to Odo. <'oDo> works as a
> transcription of the name, but how does a Klingon convey the idea of a
> changeling? <bIQDo'> or "water (liquid) being", might work. "He who is
> able to change shape" sounds more accurate to me, but I don't know how to
> say that in tlhIngan.
Well, as ~mark used to convey very easily, what you are trying
to do is futile. "What is the Klingon word for 'umbrella'?" I
think he also asked, "What is the English word for 'banana'?"
Apparently, the word "banana" was literally ripped off from some
other language.
The point is, no matter how hard you try, you cannot make up new
words and expect other people to understand what you are talking
about. You can't do it in English, and you can't do it in
Klingon. You understand the mental process you went through to
come up with the word, but someone else is quite likely to have
a different mental process. To me, {bIQDo'} would most likely be
a fish, since I've seen fish, but I've never seen a liquid life
form (even though humans have been called "ugly bags of mostly
water" in a delightful, early TNG episode).
You have to use the words you have. Don't make up a new word.
Make up a new SENTENCE, just like you would in English. "Odo is
a shape shifter." That only makes sense because you have seen
shape shifters (on TV anyway) and you saw someone calling what
you saw a "shape shifter". Meanwhile, if you walked up to
someone who doesn't watch Star Trek (they do exist, by the way)
and say, "Odo is a shape shifter", they will pause while they
consider whether or not your condition merits calling 911.
chenchoHlaH *'oDo porgh. tlhoS Hoch mojlaHlaw' porghDaj.
choHtaHvIS porghDaj, vIHtaHbogh bIQ rur.
Once you've explained it, people may understand what you are
saying and his name alone likely will be enough. That or, like
Kahless the Unforgettable, he might become something like
{mojlaHlaw'bogh *'oDo*}.
It is not that we get mad. It is that for years, we've watched
people enthusiastically share with us new words they made up and
they expect us to be happy and proud because they added
something to the language. Most of the time, the new words are
either ungrammatical, unclear or unnecessary. These people are
still welcome here. We just try to nip in the bud this
unfortunate, unproductive habit of making their first efforts at
the language take the form of creating new nouns. There are
better ways to spend your time here.
> quljIb
> (Who is very, very, very, very,..., very sorry.)
You really don't need to be sorry. As I said, you are most
welcome here. Making up new words is less welcome here than you
are.
charghwI' 'utlh