tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 04 09:53:35 2004

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Re: Possible Pun

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

qurgh wrote:

>Ok, this may be a silly one but here goes:
>cha'par = "2 par" which sounds like Tupac who is a rapper known for his 
>songs..
>Now, I'm not a fan of rap, but I've heard of the guy.. so maybe Marc has..

Now you're reaching.  If that were the joke, we would expect *{cha'paq} or 
*{cha'paQ} on the pattern of the other {cha'-} bird names:  Okrand may be 
obscure on occasion, but AFAIK he never intentionally distorts the 
consonants.  As long as he can make the name fit easily into his 
transcription system, he will.  (He does, however, occasionally abbreviate 
words: 1) because Klingon words tend to be shorter than English and 2) not 
to make it -too- easy for us.)

For example, here's one of his more obscure musical references:  {bertlham} 
"This word usually refers to the last aria or other musical portion in an 
opera, last speech in a play, last sentence or so of a story or an address. 
The {bertlham} of a well-known work is often well-known itself, as is its 
beginning (bI'reS)."  (HQ 12.2:8-9)  For those unfamiliar with opera 
(including me), this turns out to be a reference to Bertram's rousing aria 
"Nonnes qui reposez" in the last act of Meyerbeer's opera "Robert le 
Diable".  How appropriate that Okrand is a fan of {ghe'naQ nIt}, even if it 
isn't Klingon.

(BTW:  {bI'reS} is a clear reference to the first book - the first word, in 
fact - of the Hebrew Bible *B'reshit", which Christians call "Genesis".)

Somewhat less obscurely, Okrand continues:  "... that portion of the song 
that comes at the beginninga portion that is often so familiar that 
listeners know what song it is after hearing just that short portionis the 
{namtun}."   {namtun} <- "Name That Tune"!!



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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