tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 25 15:20:30 2003
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Re: My name
Michael Rynes wrote:
>Actually, I was attempting to learn my name in Klingon. 'Michael' or
>'Mike' Rynes.
To start with, have you read the section on names in the list FAQ?
"How do I choose a Klingon name?"
http://higbee.cots.net/~holtej/klingon/faq.htm#2.2
"How do I translate "Bubba" (or any name) into Klingon?"
http://higbee.cots.net/~holtej/klingon/faq.htm#2.3
>Someone has suggested jIH Da joH a', meaning (supposedly), "Am I like
>lord?" I don't think that's quite right. even though that's pretty much
>what 'Michael' means.
Your suspicions are right. *{jIH Da joH'a'} means "the Lord behaves as
I/me" which is not at all what you want. Michael is derived from the
Hebrew *mi kha 'El* which actually means "who is like God (El)". (If
you're interested in historical etymology, *'el* is both the general word
for "god, deity" in Western Semitic as well as being the name of the major
Canaanite sky god, El.) In Klingon, these are:
'el rur 'Iv?
Who resembles El?
Qun rur 'Iv?
Who resembles god?
joH'a' rur 'Iv?
Who resembles the Lord? (i.e. "great lord" which some people prefer to
{Qun})
Your version becomes:
Qun vIrur'a'?
Do I resemble god? Am I like god?
joH'a' vIrur'a'?
Do I resemble the Lord? Am I like the Lord?
None of these exactly rolls off the tongue. Hebraic theological names
translate very badly into Klingon. Perhaps you can try your last name. Do
you know what it means?
Instead of translating, consider transliterating part or all of your
name. Marc Okrand once transliterated the names of some of the actors
who've played Klingons into his system, including:
{mayqel 'anSa'ra} Michael Ansara ("Kang")
{mayqel Do'rIn} Michael Dorn ("Worf")
A third approach is to create your own, unique Klingon name that has no
relation to your Terran name whatsoever.
For example, my own name (Steven Boozer) translates as {mIv'a' chechwI'} -
"Steven" is derived from the Greek *stephanos* "crown" and "boozer" means
just what you think it does. <g> For obvious reasons, I decided not to
use either of these. The name I ultimately chose - "Voragh" - doesn't mean
anything in Klingon. I just combined two Klingon names from TNG episodes
which I liked: Vagh and Moragh.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons