tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 14 21:25:34 2001
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re: More questions (was Re: *Paramount* chaw')
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: re: More questions (was Re: *Paramount* chaw')
- Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 21:27:36 -0700
> Here's a question for everyone: One area I am quite unsure about is the
area
> of -wI' nouns and how one should translate them. Is <<ngaQbe'wI'>> good
> grammar for use as "key"?
ngaQ means "be locked"
Therefore ngaQwI' means 'a thing that is locked' or 'the locked one.'
ngaQbe'wI' is 'the unlocked one'.
e.g.
ngaQbe'wI' vISampa', Soch lojmIt vIpoSmoH 'e' vInID.
"I tried to open seven doors, before I found the one that wasn't locked."
When I want to refer to a device that causes things to become unlocked,
usually it's that bit of plastic they give you in hotels these days, at
qep'a', I say ngaQHa'moHwI' literally something like "delockedifier" --
'object (or person) that causes to invert the sate of being locked.' If I
wanted a key in order to lock something, I'd ask for a ngaQmoHwI' -
lockedmaker.
> And for that matter, how about <<ngaQwI'>> for
> "lock" (a noun)?
In that sense, sure, ngaQwI' might refer to a lock. After all, a lock is a
thing that is locked. Of course, by that logic "locker" in English should
mean 'lock' not 'secure closet'.
My point is, we don't know absolutely what Klingons call things, but we can
acurately describe them using correct grammar.
> As well, in Klingon for the Galactic Traveller Dr Okrand
> gives a word for lava (vaHbo'). Further to that, is there a word for
> volcano? Or for other geological events?
Look up Seq, Qom, and Qargh. I'd say vaHbo' lIngbogh HuD if I needed to
describe a Hawaiian volcano.
Qov