RE: ? about a word.

[eric.andeen@autodesk.com]

"T. J. Harrington":

> I'm trying to give our ship a Klingon name.  The name
> of the ship is USS Schrodinger.  Since it was about a
> cat in a box, whether or not it was alive or dead.  I
> thought the Klingon word should be Hidden Cat.  Now I
> have found a word for hide, but is there a word for
> hidden or is it ok to use "So'" for hidden. Also I
> can't find a word for cat.  Any opinions, or help
> would be helpful.

qe'San:

> vIghro' = cat like animal

maj. It's not actually a cat, but it's apparently quite close.

> I'm fairly sure  [vIghro' So'taH] or [vIghro' So'lI'] would 
> be "hidding cat" if So' can be used adjectively..

Qo'! A verb used as an adjective must describe a state or quality, and <So'> does not. Also, the only suffixes that are allowed on verbs used as adjectives are <-be'>, <-Ha'> and <-qu'>. Note that TKD only mentions <-be'>, but canon examples have used <-Ha'> and <-qu'>.

> I don't think hide can take an object??  If it can then what 
> about [vIghro' So'ta'lu'bogh].  That is probably completely incorrect.

Actually, it is quite close. The only problem is suffix order: <-ta'> is type seven, and <-lu'> is type five, so it needs to be <vIghro' So'lu'ta'bogh>.

> Just thought.... What about using [ngaSwI'] for container... 
> which would mean [ngaSwI'Daq 'oH vIghro''e'] is hopefully "cat 
> in the container" (The cat it is in the container)

This is actually a comlete sentence - "The vIghro' is in the container".

> Or what about just [ taH'a' vIghro'] "Cat survive?"

Once again, this is a complete sentence - "Does the cat survive?", although <yIntaH'a' vIghro'> would be a little more accurate. In any case, this is probably the closest suggestion yet to the spirit of Schroedinger's cat. I'll make one more:

yInbejbe'bogh vIghro' - The cat which is uncertainly alive.  It's hard to translate into English, but the Klingon makes sense.

All of this seems a bit long for a ship name, though.

pagh