tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 22 08:20:54 2007

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Re: qechmey

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



Jonathan:
> >Someone suggested translating "I have dysentery" using {ghaj}. My
> >understanding is that {ghaj} indicates possession or ownership and
> >so would probably not apply to a disease.

Although {ghaj} "have, possess" and its antonym {Hutlh} "lack, be without, 
to not have" are usually used with physical objects, they can be used with 
"intangibles":

   De' pegh vIghaj
   I have secret information. PK

   Hov ghajbe'bogh ram rur pegh ghajbe'bogh jaj
   A day without secrets is like a night without stars. PK

   nab Hutlh 'ach vang
   He/she lacks a plan, but he/she takes action. KGT

   tera' poH jaj wa', jar wa', jaj loSDIch, DIS wa'-Hut-Hut-chorgh:
     HovpoHvetlh latlh nab yIHutlh
   Save this Stardate:  Sunday, January 4, 1998. STX

   tlham ghaj
   "have gravity" (slang for "have structure, order") (KGT 165)]

   tlham Hutlh
   "lack gravity" (slang for "lack structure, order" (KGT 165)

and even abstract ideas (especially {quv} "honor" - which Klingons probably 
wouldn't call "abstract" <g>):

   pIch vIghajbe'
   It's not my fault. TKD

   quv lughaj Archer HoD beqDaj je.
   Captain Archer and his crew are honorable people. (ENT "The Augments")

   quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh
   A Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. TKW

   'ang'eghQo' quv Hutlhbogh jagh neH ghobtaHvIS ghaH
   Only an enemy without honor refuses to show himself in battle. TKW

Whether {ghaj} can be used with diseases is unknown.  I would imagine not 
though.

> >Could you use {ngej} "infect" - {pom vIngej} "I am infected with dysentery";

Probably not.  I would expect the object of {ngej} to be the person infected.

> >or perhaps {mungej pom} "Dysentery infects me"?

I do like this use.  You can modify it:  {mungejchoH pom} "I came down with 
dysentery" etc.

Qov:
>That's how I usually write it. or pommo' bech: "suffers from
>dysentry". (I've used it in fiction and hyperbole). I agree that
>using ghaj is assuming an English idiom translates.

Alan Anderson suggested {SIQ} "endure, bear":

    'oy' DaSIQjaj
    May you endure the pain! PK

    yIn DayajmeH 'oy' yISIQ.
    To understand life, endure pain. TKW

    yIn nI' yISIQ 'ej yIchep
    Live long and prosper! (Radio Times)

I commented in the "Re: Klingon WOTD: rop (verb)" thread that:

>>     {SIQ} is transitive, unlike {rop} "be sick" or {bech} "suffer".  So
>>  ?{poq vISIQ} "I have indigestion" and ?{pom vISIQ} "I've got dysentery"
>>  then?  It works.  And you can modify it with the adverbials {loQ} and
>>  {tlhoy} or the suffixes {-law'}, {-qu'} or {-chu'} depending on the
>>  severity.  Nice.

Jonathan:
> >On another issue, how do you use {chang'eng}? Would "pair of shoes" be
> >rendered "shoes' pair" and so {chang'eng waqmey}?

Qov:
>I'd understand that, but I've no idea how it's supposed to be used.
>Voragh Sa' may provide the answer.

I've wondered about that myself, but canon isn't very helpful.  {chang'eng} 
"pair" debuted in the Klingon Bird of Prey Poster labelled parts list:

   nISwI':  cha' chang'engmey (telDaq lujomlu', nItebHa' lubaHlu')
   Disruptor - 2 Pairs (Wing Mounted, Fire Linked) (KBoP)

Our only other example was in the humorous "making of" feature at the end 
of the ST5 Special Edition DVD:

   tlhIngan chang'engvetlh
   that Klingon couple (ST5 DVD)

I haven't seen it, but De'vID jonwI' reported to the list in May 2003:

   There are interviews with the actors who played Klingons on both discs.
   The one on Star Trek V is called "That Klingon Couple" with the subtitle
   {tlhIngan chang'engvetlh}. While their lines in Star Trek V had a few
   problems that may annoy some Klingonists, the actors themselves had an
   excellent attitude towards learning the Klingon and took it very quite
   seriously.  I was very impressed with that aspect of things.



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






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