tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 11 09:28:48 2003
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Re: Tao Te Ching Chp. 67
'ISqu' wrote:
>[C] Can {pung} be {'ang}-ed in Klingon the way "mercy" can be "shown" in
>English? Any "native speaker" judgments?
Good question.
{pung} "mercy" in canon:
pung ghap HoS
Mercy or power. [sic!] TKW
It is noteworthy that the conjunction in the Klingon phrase is {ghap}
(either/or),
not {joq} (and/or). This implies that one must choose between mercy and
power;
they are incompatible. (TKW, 119)
{'ang} "show, reveal" in canon:
A duel is preceded by one party issuing a challenge to the other. This
is expressed
by using the phrase {qabDaj 'ang} (literally, "He/she shows his/her
face," referring
to the Klingon tenet that a warrior always shows his or her face in
battle). To
challenge someone to a duel, one will give the command {qablIj HI'ang}
("Show me your
face!"), though this is often shortened to simply {HI'ang} ("Show me!").
... The
challenged party may agree to the duel by answering {vISo'be'} ("I don't
hide it")
or the lengthier qabwIj vISo'be' ("I don't hide my face"). This person
is said to
{'angchu'} ("show clearly"), the usual shorthand way of saying {qabDaj
'angchu'}
("He/she shows his/her face clearly"). One accepts a challenge ({qab
'ang} [literally,
"shows face"]) in order to prove one's honor ({quv tob} [literally,
"test honor
conclusively"]). (KGT, 68f)
tIqlIj Da'angnIS
You must show your heart. PK
tIqwIj Sa'angnIS.
I must show you my heart. (TNG "The Icarus Factor")
For example, someone undergoing the Rite of Ascension says {tIqwIj
Sa'angnIS} "I
must show you [plural] my heart". The pronominal prefix in this phrase
is {Sa-},
which means "I [do something to] all of you"... but when there's already an
object (in this case, {tIqwIj} "my heart"), the 'object' of the prefix is
interpreted as the indirect object, so {Sa-} means "I [do something to]
it for
you" or the like. (st.klingon 6/97)
quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh
A Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. TKW
'ang'eghQo' quv Hutlhbogh jagh neH ghobtaHvIS ghaH
Only an enemy without honor refuses to show himself in battle. TKW
ro'lIj HI'ang
Show me your fist!
rolIj HI'ang
Show me your torso!
"Show my your fist" is an idiomatic expression used to challenge someone to
take action in a manner consistent with something he or she has just said.
Substituting "torso" for "fist" by mispronouncing {ro'} as {ro} would
produce
a phrase that would be interpreted only literally. Ordering a Klingon to
reveal his or her torso is probably not a good idea. (KGT, 195)
Hmm... it's interesting the things you notice when you collate all known
examples of a word. Note the things one can show or reveal {'ang}: your
face, your heart, your fist, your torso, even yourself: all physical
objects (oddly enough, all parts of a body or the body entire) and things
that were concealed - although "show your heart" is certainly not to be
taken literally! Whether one can ?{pung 'ang} "show mercy" (which is an
intangible or abstract concept) is unknown. But if you can't, I don't know
how else you can translate the idea since AFAIK there is no verb for "be
merciful" in Klingon.
--
Voragh "Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon
- that's
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons hard!" (Montgomery
Scott, STIV)