tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 06 03:51:21 2003
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Re: KLBC: {cha'}?
Greetings.
Since you marked this as KLBC
David "cogent" Hand wrote:
>I've just finished transcribing all three printed Klingon->English
>dictionaries, so that I can begin to collate them for myself.
Three dictionaries? Please explain!
But anyway, it's a good practice to write klingon. I made my personal dictionary out of all the books
available, *that* is a good practice.
>words that are defined merely as "type of animal", and such, to see if
>KGT has a better description in the body of the text.
Good idea! Searching for words and explanations is good for your brain to memorize the
vocabulary. Keep working with that!
>But I was scanning through, and noticed a the word {cha'}, which as a
>verb appears to mean "show, display (picture)". This is cute, because I
>can't find any such noun for "picture".
Yes, too bad, isn't it? :-)
The reason that "picture" stands in the translation is only to clarify that it's not "A show, A display",
but a verb "TO show, TO display", like in the example "to show a picture".
Here's some canon on how to use the verb:
{motlh ray' luSamlaHmeH De' Qatlh cha' tlhIngan Duj jIH'a'}
"The main viewer on a Klingon ship is usually overlaid with a complex target acquisition grid"
taking out the significant part:
{...De' Qatlh cha' ... jIH'a'}
"The main viewer shows/displays difficult information"
One other is an idiom from KGT, {mIvDaq pogh cha'} "display a glove on one's helmet" It is used
to convey the idea that a matter has been postponed or rescheduled; the phrase can be heard in a
number of forms, depending on the parties to the commitment. For example, {mIvwIjDaq poghlIj
vIcha'} implies that the postponed matter is between the speaker and the addressee.
Skybox-Card #1, about the Klingon symbol, the trefoil:
{tlhIngan wo' Degh 'oH Deghvam'e'. tlhIngan Dujmey law'qu' SommeyDaq batlh cha'lu'}
"This marking represents the Klingon Empire and has been emblazoned upon the hulls of
countless Klingon Starships."
Again, a lot of words for a beginner, so I'll take out the important:
{... SommeyDaq ... cha'lu'}
"It is shown ... upon the hulls ..."
>A non-Klingonist friend suggested that perhaps the idea of "picture" is
>included in {cha'}. So to show you the picture, just {SoHvaD vIcha'}?
This means just "I show it to you". From the above examples we see that the word "picture" is not
included in the verb; one can "show/display" anything.
There's three ways to "show" something:
{'ang} v. "show, reveal"
{cha'} v. "show, display (a picture)"
{'agh} v. "show, demonstrate, display"
{'ang} means that you show something that was hidden before. {tIqwIj Sa'angnIS} = "I must show
you my heart", i.e. I need to open myself (not literally) or my soul, to show everybody that I do
have the Real Klingon Heart. {yI'ang} could be understood as "stop hiding it - show it!"
{cha'} is used for things that are not really unknown, like "You've shown it to everyone, now show
it again. Put it on the display, so that everyone can see it."
{'agh} - I only found one canon example from the Skybox Card 33: {... Dujvam 'aghlu'pu' 'ach
Qaw'lu'pu'} "this ship has been demonstrated, but destroyed" -- From the other words, and this
example, I conclude that this third "show" is not for a picture on the screen, or a statue on the table,
but more for things that "do" something, like a demonstration.
{nuH chu' vIghaj}
{toH! yI'agh.}
- "I got a new weapon."
- "Aha! Show me."
i.e. don't just let me see what it looks like, show me how much it can destroy! }}:-)
>Perhaps to *look* at the picture, I show it to myself: {vIcha'egh}? (Or
>would that be to show myself as a picture, to someone else?)
You can't use an object prefix with the v#1 {-'egh}, because the suffix implies that the object is the
subject:
{jIcha''egh} [note: 2 apostrophes]
"I show myself", So it's the others who will see you.
>you? I can't find nouns for picture.
briefly: there is none. Somehow, the friends of Maltz couldn't convince him yet to tell us this word.
>The closest I get are {bey'},
That's a "display", a thing where you can put objects on to look at, like in a museum.
>{wIy},
{wIy yIcha'} "Show tactical display"
This is the known tactical display with the triangle-grid, showing defensive and offensive status of a
space vessel. Not really a picture.
> and {HaSta}, only the last of which seems vaguely appropriate.
This is a "visual display", the screen on which you want to "display" your "picture" on.
I've seen {HaStavaD...} as "...for Windows" (speaking computers)
The closest we can get to the idea is a {nagh beQ}. But this Klingon artwork on some kinda stone
panel.
That might sound like "Hey, you wanna see a fresco of my wife?"
Conclusion:
1. cha' = "show s.th."
2. no noun for "picture"
I hope I could help
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH
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