tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 17 16:35:27 2002
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Re: Name translation
Kiba Daiichi wrote:
>> How about just going word for word? "Wood" then "Meadow"?
DloraH:
>"wood meadow" Sor Hap yotlh ~ "tree matter field (of land)"
>
>Sor Hap is "wood", but if you prefer, Sor is "tree", and ngem is "forest,
>woods"
>
>Sor yotlh "field of the tree", "field of trees", "the tree's field"
>yotlh Sor "tree of the field", "trees of the field", etc
>
>ngem yotlh "field of the forest", etc.
>> My name means "Wooden Meadow".
As others have pointed out, in English a meadow is "land in, or
predominantly in, grass; especially a tract of moist low-lying usually
level grassland" (according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary). I.e. no trees; thus it cannot be wooden. To complicate
matters, we don't have a Klingon word for "grass". The closest I can think
of is the *very* general {tI} "vegetation".
I don't know Japanese, but by "wooden meadow" do you mean a grove, i.e. "a
small wood without underbrush (e.g. a picnic grove)"? If so, the
diminutive of {ngem} "forest" is perfect: *{ngemHom}.
Rather than translate, why not transliterate your name: {qIba'}, {qIba},
{qI'ba'}, {qI'ba}, {qIyba'}, {qIyba}, {qIy'ba'}, {qIy'ba}, etc. Choose
whichever sounds best to your ears.
Another option is to consider this as an opportunity to re-invent
yourself. Make up a new, Klingon-sounding name totally unrelated to
real-life. For example, my own Klingon name is Voragh, which as far as I
know doesn't mean anything. I simply combined the names of two Klingon
characters from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes - Vagh and Moragh.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons