tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 11 07:44:28 2006
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: mangpu' or negh?
Voragh:
>Okrand explains the various words for "warrior" in KGT (p. 49-50):
>
>>The quintessential Klingon person, of course, is the warrior, and
>>there are several words for "warrior". The most commonly heard term
>>is {SuvwI'} (literally, "one who fights" or "fighter"). This word is
>>used in most circumstances and is never inappropriate. Indeed, it is
>>often preferred because it states explicitly what a warrior does:
>>fight. [...] The word {mang} is used when the warrior under discussion
>>is described in terms of his membership in a fighting unit (for example,
>>as a crew member on an attack cruiser). Perhaps for this reason it is
>>sometimes translated "soldier." The usual plural form of {mang} is a
>>different word altogether: {negh} ("warriors, soldiers"). The word
>>{mangpu'} is seldom used, but it is not ungrammatical. It carries with
>>it the notion that there are individuals (more than one {mang}) making
>>up the group; {negh} focuses on the group as a unit. A similar word,
>>{QaS}, normally translated "troops", is used in almost the same way
>>as {negh}, but it excludes officers. [...] The third word for
>>"warrior", {vaj}, refers more to the notion of warriorhood or the
>>idea of being a warrior than it does to an individual warrior.
Shane MiQogh:
> >so in general, if i want to say congrats to my soldiers, i could say
> >negh as a general, but to add emphasis that i am thinking of them more
> >as warriors than just soldiers, i would say vajpu'?
No, do not say *{vajpu'} since {vaj} is *not* an individual warrior. For
that, use {SuvwI'} or {mang}. Think of {vaj} as the abstract idea of
"warriorhood" or "all things warrior". In effect, {vaj} acts as a sort of
adjective in that it always modifies another noun in all our known examples:
vaj Duj
a warrior's instincts (idiom)
It is noteworthy that in this idiom the word for "warrior" is not
the frequently heard {SuvwI'}, which would denote an individual
warrior, but rather {vaj}, which refers to the whole idea of being
a warrior... {SuvwI' Duj} would mean the instincts of a specific
warrior. (KGT 114)
vaj Duj chIj
navigate a warrior ship
(idiom: "have strength of character") KGT
vaj Duj DachIj
You navigate a warrior ship
(i.e. "You have strength of character.") KGT
vaj Duj chIjbe'
He/she does not navigate a warrior ship
(i.e. "He/she lacks strength of character.") KGT
vaj toDuj Daj ngeHbej DI vI'
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle. ST5
[lit. "Sharpshooting of the cosmos' litter inconclusively tests
a warrior's courage." TKW]
Okrand comments on this line from ST5:
Captain Klaa, who took it upon himself to take revenge against the
Federation's Captain James T. Kirk, remarked that he needed a real
challenge to test "a warrior's mettle", or {vaj toDuj} (literally,
"warrior courage"). He was not referring to his own courage or that
of any specific warrior (which would have been, in all likelihood,
{SuvwI' toDuj}), but rather to the kind of courage embodied in
being a warrior. (KGT 50)
> > and there are so
> >many ways to add emphasis, like vaj'a'pu' or vajpu' Dun or for the
> >most emphasis on how highly i think of them, vaj'a'pu' Dun.
Again, do not use {vaj} for this. Okrand has used {SuvwI'na'} "a
true/authentic warrior" and {SuvwI''a'} "great warrior" in the meanings you
want:
tlhIngan SuvwI'na' - Qapla'!
[Marc Okrand's inscription on a photo (DloraH)]
reH Suvrup SuvwI''a'
A great warrior is always prepared. PK
We've also seen {Dun} used indirectly with {SuvwI'} in a comparison:
qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
You would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy. ST5
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons