tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 28 12:56:36 2005
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Re: "Button"?
...Paul:
>Hey guys, I'm still working on the Bloglines translation, and came across
>a word I'm surprised I couldn't find: "button".
>
>I'm kinda using /SeHlawHom/ to try to convey it...
By this, I assume you mean the buttons on a control panel and NOT fasteners
for clothing?
(For this latter meaning *{rarwI'} "connector, attacher" is the best we
have -- but it also works for velcro fasteners, zippers, snaps,
etc. There's also the verb {bagh} "tie" for laces and the like.)
>I'm debating switching to /chu'wI'/ but not sure I like the connotation of
>'trigger' (or /chu'/
>being 'engage').
A trigger is a type of on/off switch and I think works best for the power
switch on your computer, the light switch in your room, the ignition in a
car, the firing knob on your disruptor/phaser, etc...
>Any ideas? Did I miss a HolQeD word for 'button' or something?
AFAIK there is nothing glossed "button" but we do have a noun {leQ}
"switch", though we don't know how it's used. There's also the verb {'uy}
"press down" which I've used in the past for just this sort of
action: *{leQ 'uy} "press a switch down". I'd use {leQ} for the
miscellaneous buttons on the {SeHlaw} and reserve {chu'wI'} for something
bigger: e.g. the {chu'wI'} activates the ship's Targeting System as a
whole, but the {leQmey} are used for inputting the necessary details.
FWIW we also have a verb {Heng} used for pushing the buttons on a {may'ron}
"accordion, concertina":
For one form of {SusDeq}, the {may'ron}, the player stretches the
bag out to fill it with air and squeezes it together to empty it
while directing the flow of air by pressing buttons mounted on
boards on either end of the bag, much like an accordion. To finger
the {may'ron}--that is, to push the buttons--is to {Heng}, the same
word applied to the {meSchuS}. (KGT 75-76)
No indication as to whether {Heng} can be used for pressing buttons on a
control panel or not. It would probably work ironically for someone
pressing many switches in rapid succession -- e.g. someone so good at their
job that s/he's able to "play" the control panel with their eyes closed.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons