tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 22 13:14:44 1999
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
RE: wej vIghro'meywIj
quljIb:
> Doq nguv 'ej ngem rur, 'ach chIs qamDu'Daj HughDaj je.
pagh:
: <nguv> doesn't work here, and the sentence works without it. I have
: no idea how s/he (or 'oH in Klingon) can be <Doq> while resembling
: a forest. Did you mean something other than <ngem>?
quljIb:
> Well, she [Raggedy Anne-"Rags" for short] is a brown, taby Maine Coon,
> of a variety sometimes called the Siberian Forest Cat (not officially
> recognized by international breeders). The only way I could think of
> to convey "brown taby" was to say "she is {Doq} and resembles (is
> coloured like) the forest."
pagh:
: The only colors I can think of when I hear "forest" are the beautiful deep
: green of a natural forest, and the darker green color decorators call
: "forest green" and apply to carpet and the like. Neither of these is even
: remotely <Doq>.
DloraH:
: Doq, ngem rur - Doq like a forest - brown (when viewed from inside
: the forest; no light, no green)
Or some types of Terran forests, when the {pormey} (leaves) turn all shades
of {Doq} in the Fall.
pagh:
: I think you're trying too hard with the color thing. If something is brown,
: it's not green *and* red; it's just brown. Klingon happens to have a single
: word - <Doq> - which covers a wide range of colors, from bright pink to dark
: brown. Everything in that range is <Doq>. Although the color words in
: Enlgish are more specific, there is considerable variety even here - think
: of the difference between "ice blue" and "midnight blue". Do you have
: trouble calling anything in that range just "blue"?
:
: I would probably describe your cat as <Doq 'ej Hurgh>. There is a need to
: differentiate your cat from, say, Morris (who is <Doq 'ej wov>), but that's
: about it.
Agreed. People get too hung up on colors. As DloraH mentioned, Marc
Okrand discussed brown on startrek.klingon (2/98):
What we call brown would be described in Klingon by using the verb
{Doq} "be red, orange". If the context is clear (such as contrasting
a brown thing with a thing that cannot be described as {Doq}, such
as something that's {SuD} "blue, green, yellow"), {Doq} alone is good
enough. Thus, if there are two drinking cups, one brown and one blue,
one might say: {HIvje' Doq vIneH} "I want the Doq cup". Only the brown
cup could be described as {Doq}; the blue cup is definitely not {Doq}
since it is {SuD}. On the other hand, to be more precise when talking
about the color (when, for example, there's a brown cup and a red cup),
Klingons would typically use the phrase: {Doq 'ej wovbe'} "be orange/
red and not be bright". To get even more specific (to be able to refer
to different kinds of browns) would involve comparisons. For example:
{Doq 'ej Qaj wuS rur} "be orange/red and resemble kradge lips". The
lips of the kradge are presumably a particular shade of brown.
For more on colors, see also KGT p. 82:
Doq 'ej beqpuj rur
it is {Doq} and resembles {beqpuj}
If you don't have any bekpuj (an orange-colored mineral) or a kradge (a
type of animal) handy, you can compare your pet to other brownish things.
E.g.:
Doq vIghro'wIj 'ej yuch (wov/Hurgh) rur.
My cat is orange/red and resembles (light/dark) chocolate.
Doq vIghro'wIj 'ej qa'vIn (wov/Hurgh/chIS/qIj) rur.
My cat is orange/red and resembles (light/dark/white/black) coffee.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons