tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 19 10:41:35 2000

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Re: titles



De'vID wrote:
: In Klingon, the title goes after the name.  Thus, <bob HoD> "Captain Bob"
: But how do I say "Bob's captain"?  i.e. if my friend Bob served on a 
: ship, and I wanted to refer to his captain whose name I don't know.  

Ambiguity is a part of every natural language, but context usually makes things
clear.  If you and your listener know that your friend Bob is only a lieutenant
{Sogh}, then {bob HoD} can only mean "Bob's captain".  Unless you're making a
joke:  

  A: meqDaq ghaHtaH bob HoD 'ej ...
  B: nuqjatlh? lumunpu''a'?  <mon>

  A: {bob HoD} was on the bridge and ...
  B: What? Have they promoted him?  <grin>

Here are a couple of ways off the top of my head to disambiguate:

{bob Sogh HoD} "Lt. Bob's captain" - AFAIK a "Lt. Capt." is not a Klingon rank,
so this should not be misunderstood.

{bob Duj HoD} "the captain of Bob's ship, Bob's ship's captain".

{bob ra'wI'} "Bob's commander/commanding officer"  {ra'wI'} is a job
description, not a rank, so this is less likely to be misunderstood.  The rank
Commander is {la'}.  

You can also say {bob HoD (ra'wI'Daj vIHech}} "Bob's captain (I mean his C.O.)"
or {bob HoD (pongDaj vISovbe'}} "Bob's captain (I don't know his name)".

Or you could just flat out ask:  {bob HoD... va! nuq 'oH HoDvetlh pong'e'?}
"Bob's captain... Damn, what's that captain's name?" or {ghaHvaD nuq ponglu'?}
"What do they call him?"

BTW, "Bob" should be transcribed {bab} in Okrand's system; {bob} rhymes with
"probe".  Don't get confused by the vowels: Martok is {martaq} and Gowron is
{ghawran}.  And Okrand himself once transcribed Robert as {rabe'rIt}.



-- 
Voragh                       
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons


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