tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 12 07:20:33 2006

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Re: mangpu' or negh?

ngabwI' ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shane MiQogh" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: mangpu' or negh?


> So basically a SuvwI''a' Dun would be a "fish tale" in any case?

I would imagine this to be the case, like "epetai-zana" in John M Ford 
novel, "The Final Reflection",  it is praise so high it's an insult.

> More or less to describe only someone sacred such as Kahless or a High 
> ranked military person?

{yIyep'eghmoH! Qun lururbe'law' qeylIS, Sa' je. ghotpu'qoq neH chaH (bIH 
pagh). *Confucius* rurlaw' qeylIS'e'.}
Careful. Neither Kahless or a general are "sacred", as such. They are just 
"people". Kahless, in particular, seems to be held in the same regard as 
Confucius. Wise, but not divine.

> Such as "SuvwI'a' Dun <Kohlrak>" Kohlrak is a great... i don't know how to 
> put this in english, more of a "God in war" or "great knight" or "Super 
> great fighter" or something like that. lol

This would be {SuvwI''a' Dun ghaH Kohlrak'e'}. And you're right, it does 
sound redundant.

>  I'm sure at any point SuvwI''a' Dunqu' would be by far an example of 
> overdoing it.

Agreed.

> in that case, we'd be implying old age with ('a') which is something which 
> is insulting to a girl...

Not necessarily. {'a'} covers a whole range of concepts, not just age or 
weight.

> Considering great could also mean vast. Hm... it seems i'm getting 
> philosophical... o.o

{yIyep'eghqa'moH} "Careful, again" You are imposing English meaning onto a 
Klingon word, something that cannot be reliably done between any two 
languages. For instance, both German and English have a word spelled 
"Handy". In English, it means something like "useful or skilled in everyday 
repairs". But, in German, this word refers to a cell phone. English and 
French both have a word "douche", but to a Frenchman, this means "shower". 
Be careful when recasting.

--ngabwI'
Klingon Grammarian
HovpoH 704403.2

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