tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 14 14:02:59 2003
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Re: once upon a time...
Quvar asks:
>How does one start a story?
>
>We certainly can't use {wa'logh}, since the expression "once upon a time"
>seems to have an idiomatic
>use. A Klingon will understand it only literally: "once on the
>time-period"...
{-logh} refers to the number of times something happens, i.e. the number of
times the action of the verb is repeated. E.g.
wa'logh qama' vIqIp neH!
I merely hit the prisoner once (i.e. one time)!
It does not mean "Once I merely hit a prisoner"!
>I found
> {nuja' tlhIngan wIch ja'wI'pu'?}
> "According to Klingon legend?"
>But what if it's not a Klingon legend?
This phrase wasn't the opening to a legend, just an explanatory statement
referring to a legend in SkyBox S8:
qaStaHvIS wa'maH puq poHmey, wo'rIv betleH ghaj qorDu'Daj.
nuja' tlhIngan wIch ja'wI'pu' yIntaHvIS qeylIS'e' lIjlaHbe'bogh
vay' batlh 'etlhvam chenmoHlu'pu'.
"Worf's bat'telh has been in his family for ten generations.
According to Klingon legend, this sword of honor descends from
the time of Kahless the Unforgettable."
Okrand has never written any stories, myths or legends so we don't know
what formula is used to introduce them -- if any.
Here on the List I've seen both *(ben law') "many years ago; long ago" and
*(ben law'qu'} "long, long ago" used, but - as is always pointed out by
someone! - you probably can't use {ben} "years ago" indefinitely like
this; you probably need a specific number {X ben}. This is unfortunate,
because I really like the sound of these as an opening phrase to a story.
And then there's always Worf's claim that "Klingons are never
approximate"... <g>
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons