tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 25 20:19:24 2000
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Re: talking about the degree of quality of something
ja' Qov:
> }> I have <tuj> "hot", <tujqu'> for "boiling",
> }
> }You obviously made that up.
> }
> }> <bIr>
> }> "cold", <bIrqu"> for "freezing"
> }
> }You obviously made that up, too.
>
> Well, sure he made it up, charghwI', but he made it up out of the elements
> of the Klingon language. That's what folk are supposed to do. You can't
> fault someone for asking questions that include guesses and suggestions of
> the answers.
>
> David, /tujqu'/ and /bIrqu'/ do not have the literal meanings "boiling" and
> "freezing," but to translate English like, "It's boiling inside a Klingon
> Bird of Prey" or "I was freezing because I wore only a tunic while it
> snowed" they work well.
>
> If a person always translates /bIrqu'/ as "very cold" and /tujqu'/ as "very
> hot," he or she is going to sound like a machine. Sometimes "starving" is
> the best translation for /ghungqu'/ but /ghungqu' puq/ doesn't really tell
> me whether the child has a bloated belly and sticklike arms, or has been
> running around for three hours since lunch.
Qov lughchu'qu'; Sor rur.
- tuv'el