tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 27 19:46:09 2000
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tlhIngan lurghmey (Klingon cardinal directions)
Voragh:
>>
>> 'ev \
>> \
>> \_______ chan
>> /
>> /
>> tIng /
>>
>> The angle between {'ev} and {tIng} is actually a bit more acute
>> than I can make it using ASCII characters -- imagine a Klingon
>> tristella tipped on its side, pointing to the right.
>>
>> I have some example sentences from Okrand's HolQeD 8.4 article
>> at home to show how this works in practice, which I'll post
>> later tonight unless pagh beats me to it.
Here they are, originally posted by Okrand in startrek.klingon (11/22/99):
{'ev} area northwestward, area towards the northwest
{tIng} area southwestward, area towards the southwest
{chan} area eastward, area towards the east
veng chan
city's eastward area, east of the city
veng chanDaq jIwam.
I hunt east of the city.
chan veng
city in the east, city toward the east, eastern city
chan vengDaq jIwam.
I hunt in the city in the east.
veng chan yoS
the city's east, the eastern part of the city
The directional nouns may also be used with possessive suffixes:
'evwIj
northwest of me
'evmaj
northwest of us
These may also be translated "northwest of here". For example:
'evmajDaq jIwampu'.
I have hunted northwest of here.
That is, if "here" refers to the speaker's current location. If "here" is a
place on a map that the speaker is pointing to, one says:
Daqvam 'ev
northwest of here
pagh:
: North would therefore be roughly <tIng chan>, or maybe <tIng tIng chan>.
To express directions between the three cardinal points, the nouns are
compounded. Usually you use just two, but Okrand says it is possible to
make a
compound of three words (though two would always be the same): {'ev chan 'ev},
{'ev chan chan}, etc. But don't get carried away with this. Remember that
these are defined as "area towards" the east/northwest/southwest and are not
precise, pinpoint directions. Don't worry about being off a few degrees when
compounding.
"How this extends to even finer tuning is something pretty much
lost except to those knowledgeable in the old ways of navigating.
In more recent times, those needing to express directions with
greater precision use (numerical) instrumental readouts."
Patrick Masterson:
> Would "yuQ yor" work to mean "North"?
To answer Patrick's question, Okrand says that halfway between "northwest" and
"east" is {'ev chan} -- North for all practical purposes.
"Logically, these words could come in the other order (that is...
{chan 'ev}, but for whatever reason, {chan} always comes second."
Patrick:
> tIng chan...east of southwest...wouldn't that be south?
Close enough.
> And how would one say "west"? tIng 'ev chan? Southwest of northwest
> of east?
"The area halfway between 'northwest' and 'southwest' is
expressed as either {'ev tIng} or {tIng 'ev}, with neither
version significantly more common tthan the other."
Finally, there is an idiomatic expression still heard "with reasonable
frequency" using all three cardinal directions: {tIngvo' 'evDaq chanDaq}.
"... the idiom means 'all around, all over, all over the place.'
It is used in the same place in a sentence that the noun {Dat}
'everywhere' might be used, but is is much more emphatic:
tIngvo' 'evDaq chanDaq jIlengpu'
I've traveled all over the place."
I hope I haven't lost anyone, but if I have you can always say:
jIHtaHbogh naDev vISovbe'
I'm lost. (TKD App.)
or, more simply:
DaqwIj vISovbe'
I am lost. ("I do not know my location.") PK
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons