tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 22 09:07:07 2007
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon words from _Diplomatic Implausibility_ (DI)
Quvar:
>I finally got some time to look at these words closely...
>
> > {jeghpu'wI'} - conquered people
"more than slaves, less than citizens, this status is given to occupants of
worlds conquered by the Klingon Empire." (DI glossary)
>I would have expected jeghwI'pu' here, but I noticed that this must be a
>verb suffix, so this word is not plural. So "people" does not mean ghotpu'
>here, but it is "a conquered people".
>So, {jeghpu'wI'} means "one who has surrendered", and not "many surrenderers"
Also: "those who have surrendered" with the optional plural suffix
omitted. Perhaps DeCandido didn't like the sound of *{jeghpu'wI'pu'}.
I found more details in my notes WRT the history of {jeghpu'wI'}:
"[SuStel] is the first one I know of to have suggested it when Mr.
DeCandido agreed to accept help (after having been gently corrected when he
proposed {charghwI'} for the idea)." (ghunchu'wI')
"Actually, I'm pretty sure that came from the KLI. Funny story here, it's
actually how Keith and I met. We were both attending a convention (I think
it was Philcon) and another author introduced me to Keith saying something
like, "Keith, you're writing a Star Trek novel with Klingons in it, you
need to talk to Lawrence to make sure you get the words right." And Keith
replied that he didn't, because he only needed one word, something which
would mean something like the vanquished, and he already had it. I think he
told me the word was {charghpu'} -- ghunchu'wI' has reported it as
{charghwI'pu'}, and that might be more accurate, but then too, he's likely
working from copies of the old e-mail that I sent out, and that was based
on a more recent recollection of my meeting with Keith. I had to explain
why that wasn't going to work. To his credit, Keith immediately asked for
my contact information and later sent detailed e-mail requesting help. As
usually happens when requests like this come in from Trek authors, I
bounced it out for discussion to a group of former BGs and we kicked it
around in e-mail for a few days. The KLI receives nice acknowledgements in
Keith's novels (he has another coming out soon). He is also a member of the
KLI..." (Lawrence Schoen)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons