tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 24 11:24:58 2001

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: fem warrior



From: <[email protected]>
> > be' SuvwI' - Female warrior (two words, not one word)
>
> Curious; where do you know this from?
> [be'] is a noun;  [be' SuvwI'] means something like "woman's (or women's)
> warrior", doesn't it?

The Noun-Noun construction can be any genitive meaning, not just possession.
/qagh tlhIq/ doesn't mean "qagh's stew," it means "qagh stew" (KGT 87).  A
/bIQ bal/ isn't a "water's jug," it's a "water jug."  And so on.  Therefore,
/be' SuvwI'/ CAN be interpreted as "woman warrior."

That said, it can ALSO be interpreted as "woman's warrior."  Therefore, you
must have context around it to be able to make clear the intended
interpretation.

Please note that there is probably no stigma attached to Klingon women being
warriors.  We don't see as many women as men, but that can certainly be
chalked up to Hollywood stereotypes.  It is my opinion that you wouldn't
usually need to say /be' SuvwI'/, at least not any more than you would need
to say /loD SuvwI'/.  A /SuvwI'/ is a /SuvwI'/, whatever his or her sex.

I wrote a story that was published in jatmey #2, and I never once indicated
the sexes of the characters.  I was imagining them as all male because of my
own biases, but I realized that I didn't make any distinction and I rather
liked that.  If you think the captain is female, you can imagine a female
captain.  And so on.  (It's not like you can tell whether /Qunotlh/ is a
man's name or a woman's.)

SuStel
Stardate 1981.3


Back to archive top level