tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 26 10:21:12 2002
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Re: meQbogh bo'Degh
Quvar wrote:
>A friend of mine asked me how to translate
> "bird from ash"
> or
> "bird out of ashes"
>
>bo'Degh is no problem, but the ashes are. I found no way to say it.
>I asked for more context, and the only thing I heard was "Phynix, the bird
>from the ashes"
>
>any suggestions?
You're right. "The bird that burns", "the burning bird" doesn't quite work.
Since there's no known Klingon word for "ashes" or "embers", try a
different approach.
For example, using the title of Igor Stravinsky's ballet *Zhar-ptitsa*
("The Firebird") as an example we could say {qul bo'Degh} "fire bird". By
coincidence, this fits in nicely with other known Klingon words: {qul DIr}
"fire skin" (a favorite dish), {qul mI'wI'} "fire dancer" (a popular group
of performers at many Klingon festivals), {qul tuq} "House of Fire" (the
title of a popular Klingon opera) and an extremely potent Klingon drink
called "fire wine" (*{qul HIq}?) Worf tried to order in TNG "A Fistful of
Datas".
BTW, In Russian there's also a classically derived word, too: *feniks*, or
phoenix. This shows the other common way to deal with a foreign/alien
word: just transcribe it.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons