tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 16 14:18:59 2001
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RE: (KLBC)
- From: "Stauffer, Tad E (staufte7)" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: (KLBC)
- Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 17:15:24 -0500
Valerie said:
> TKD 3, 2.2
>
> tIj: Is this a noun or a verb? I translate as "to board."
>
{tIj} is a verb, meaning "to board, go aboard", like when you go aboard a
vehicle. You can use it like any other verb.
For example,
{wItIj} "We go aboard it"
or
{DujwIj DatIjvIp} "You are afraid to board my ship"
> tIjwI': Could this, also, mean "boarder" as in a country, state, or
> something used around a completed piece of stitchery, or is this just for
> when someone is boarding something, like a ship or a space station?
>
{tIjwI'} is only used for someone that goes aboard a ship, space station,
etc.. Literally, it is the verb {tIj} ("go aboard") plus the verb suffix
{-wI'} ("one who does").
So, it does not refer to the "border" of a country which is a separate,
unrelated word.
> When saying "one who transports," could you say jolwI'?
>
Yes, {jolwI'} is fine for "one who transports". Note that this is actually
{jol} ("beam (aboard)") + {-wI'} ("one who does"). This could refer to the
person who beams you (e.g., Scotty), or the machine that beams you (the
transporter device). Another verb to consider is {Qol} which means "beam
away". (you'll find it on page 184 & 186 of TKD)
On one of the Klingon audio tapes, the word {lupwI'} is used, and translated
as the English word "jitney" (which my dictionary defines as a bus). Note
that {lupwI'} actually means "one who transports", but not in the sense of
beaming someone. So you can use {jolwI'} for whatever beams you onto the
ship, and use {lupwI'} for a vehicle (such as a bus or a car) that
transports you normally.
> When trying to say "a cloak and dagger," would you use So' for "cloak" in
> this statement?
>
{So'} is the verb "cloak or hide". It is used in the noun {So'wI'}, which is
"cloaking device" or literally "one which cloaks/hides". You wouldn't use
the verb {So'} for the piece of clothing called a cloak.
The phrase "cloak and dagger" is an English term which means that something
is related to spying or espionage. I'd assume that this is because spies
would wear a cloak, and hold a dagger.
You could say {So'wI' taj je} ("a cloaking device and dagger" - note that
the word {je} ("and") goes at the end of a list of nouns). However, having a
cloaking device and a dagger describes the majority of Klingons, doesn't it?
It wouldn't mean "spying or espionage" to a Klingon. Instead, you could use
the verb {ghoq} ("spy (on someone)") or the noun {lInDab} ("espionage").
> TKD 3, 2.3
>
> 'ejDo': How would you pronounce ' before a word? The only thing I have
> come across in TKD thus far is after.
>
The shorter, simple answer:
If you're a native English speaker, you don't have to worry about
pronouncing {'} at the beginning of a word. When English speakers learn to
speak English, whenever they say a word that starts with a vowel sound, they
automatically add the {'} sound to the beginning. So when you say the
English word "edge", you're actually pronouncing it like the syllable {'ej}
at the beginning of the word {'ejDo'}.
The longer, more linguistic answer:
The Klingon letter {'} represents the sound that linguists call a "glottal
stop". Some languages (such as Klingon or Hawaiian) use this sound as part
of their alphabet, and they make a distinction between a word with a glottal
stop and one without. For example, {tI} and {tI'} are different words in
Klingon. The only difference is that {tI'} is pronounced with a glottal stop
at the end, and {tI} is not.
Written English doesn't indicate glottal stops, and we're not used to
listening for the difference between glottal stops/lack of glottal stops.
Because English speakers don't make this distinction, we pronounce a glottal
stop at the beginning of a word that starts with a vowel sound, without even
realizing it. For example, if you quickly say "Aye aye, sir!", you'll
probably pronounce the first "aye" with an initial glottal stop, and the
second one without a glottal stop (although you might not realize it). Using
Klingon letters, these sounds would be represented as {'ay ay}.
- taD