tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 21 00:41:47 2000

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Re: RE: Klingon WOTD: DarSeq (n)


>> : >Klingon word:   DarSeq
>> : >Part of Speech: noun
>> : >Definition:     unit of currency
>> : >KGT.  [darsek].

>> De'vID wrote:
>> : Y'know, this word makes me wonder if some
>> : Paramount writer decided that /DeQ/ (pronounced
>> : like "deck", no doubt) didn't sound foreign enough
>> : and added an extraneous syllable in there to form
>> : this new word.

charghwI':
>Are you considering {arS} to be a syllable and {Q} and {q} 
>to be the same sound? I think you have a few things to 
>learn about Klingon pronunciation and syllable boundaries.

'e' jIQubbe'ba' jIH'e'.  Qub "Paramount writer" 'e' vIloy neH.
/DeQ/ laDDI' "Paramount writer", "pronounced like
'deck'" Qub ghaH'e', 'e' vIHech.  

I didn't make myself too clear, which I suppose is a
cultural gaff in Klingon society.  I meant that
*to the Paramount writer* /DeQ/ looks merely like 
a "harsh" version of "deck".  And while /Q/ and /q/ are
indeed different when transcribed in tlhIngan Hol,
in Paramount hands they are often mutated into
"K'H", "K'KH", "H'KH" or some variant thereof, and
often interchangably.  And don't forget that while
/arS/ is not a valid syllable in tlhIngan Hol, the word
"darsek" is back-transcribed from the English 
(or par Hol) "D'ARSEH'K" or the like, where the
equivalent of /arS/ is indeed a valid syllable (and
the /Q/ may become a /q/).

I was just wondering why, when they had a 
perfectly good word /DeQ/, they would choose to
invent "darsek", that's all. "That'll be twenty
D'EH'Ks" doesn't sound quite right, and sounds
almost like "twenty decks" when spoken through
the false teeth worn by Klingons on the show.
"Twenty D'ARSEH'Ks" sounds better, but that leads
me to wonder where the extra syllable came
from.

cha' DarSeqHomwIj vInob neH.

--
De'vID

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