tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 20 09:59:09 2004

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Re: DCKL translation problems: {'Im}

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

weQqul wrote:
>>jISovbe'! Haven't tried it. It is the ngat part I have a problem with. LOL

More about {ngat} from KGT:

   ... if [the meat] is fresh, the "cook" may {pID} it, which
   involves coating it with herbed granulated cartilage (not
   necessarily from the same animal) mixed with some kind of
   {tIr} ("grain") and doing very little else. The name of the
   granulated cartilage is {ngat}, which has also come to mean
   "gunpowder". Meat prepared in this way is sometimes described
   as {wamwI' Ha'DIbaH} ("hunter's meat"), but the specific animal
   name is usually used instead of the word {Ha'DIbaH} ("meat");
   for example, {wamwI' mIl'oD} ("hunter's sabre bear"). [KGT 89f.]

ghunchu'wI':
 >On second thought, actually, I wouldn't.  "Rendering" is a process by which
 >one obtains fat from animal parts.  It isn't done to fat; it *produces*
 >purified fat.  The definitions and descriptions of the Klingon verb {'Im}
 >are somewhat inconsistent.  I'll probably understand the intent however it
 >gets used, but I myself would use {pubtaHbogh tlhagh} to describe the stuff
 >in which {tlhombuS} is prepared.

Quvar:
>I try to stick to Marc Okrand's text as possible, so on KGT p. 93 It says 
>"This involves first acquiring
>{tlhagh} ("animal fat") from any available source and then heating it up 
>so that it boils (the general
>word for "boil is {pub}, but the verb used specifically to refer to the 
>boiling of fat is {'Im} ["render"])"
>
>I understand:
>     ... so that IT boils [...] ... boiling of fat is {'Im}
>
>Unfortunately, I don't have my KGT here with me now, but as far as I 
>remember, MO only uses the
>intransitive "boiling": "water is boiling" [German students tend to 
>confuse this, because in German
>"cook" and "boil" are one word ;-)]

{pub} in canon:

   pubtaHbogh ghargh HIq vItlhutlh.
   I will drink Boiling Worm Wine. PK

   tujpa' qul pub SuvwI' 'Iw
   A warrior's blood boils before the fire is hot. TKW

I think the problem is that Okrand misunderstands what rendering 
is.  ("Dammit, Jim. I'm a linguist, not a cook!")  Here's the relevant 
passage in full:

   If heat is used as part of food preparation, the cook is most likely
   to {mIQ} ("deep-fry") the food. This involves first acquiring {tlhagh}
   ("animal fat) from any available source and then heating it up so that
   it boils (the general word for "boil" is {pub}, but the verb used
   specifically to refer to the boiling of fat is {'Im} ["render"]). After
   it has been boiling for a while, the food to be fried is tossed in
   (sometimes having been coated in some kind of paste), and it stays
   there until it has soaked up as much of the {tlhagh} ("fat") as
   possible. A particularly popular dish, {tlhombuS}, requires that the
   cook coat a block of {tlhagh} with a mixture of {ngat} ("herbed
   granulated cartilage") and {tIr} ("grain") and then briefly immerse
   the block into the already boiling fat, just until the coating
   hardens.  (KGT 93)

This seems to indicate that Okrand erroneously believes that "render" 
refers to boiling the oil used in deep fat frying, a technique for 
preparing food.  In fact, rendering is a technique for producing food (like 
"churning" cream produces butter).

I must admit that although I too was familiar with the word "render" from 
reading, being a city boy I didn't know what it actually meant and had to 
look it up when I read the above passage.  (Nowadays, most urbanites don't 
render their own fat, but just buy the finished product in stores.)



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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