tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 12 19:37:21 2008

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ngoy'

Rich Timpone ([email protected])



I am curious if anyone has come across a translation for the concept 
of responsibility.
I have been in a dialogue on the Klingon Imperial Forum regarding 
this, and appreciate the assistance I have received there.  I was 
pointed to the KLI as the linguistic experts, and had been reviewing 
the archives.  I have subsequently joined and have enjoyed the 
exchanges thus far, and felt it was worth posing the question for the 
group on whether anyone could point to more canonical information 
regarding responsibility.

In TKD, "responsible" and "to be responsible" are translated as 
ngoy'.  As noted in TKD, the noun and verb form of words are often 
identical (i.e. ta' and yoD).  While that is seen in the case with 
responsible and to be responsible, I am not sure if it would extend 
to the more abstract concept of responsibility.  While responsibility 
has multiple meanings, I am interested in the specific aspect of the 
word dealing with having accountability for something, which is tied 
to definitions of obligation or duty (Qu' or in slang, ghIgh)

This aspect of responsibility clearly applies to ngoy' as seen in the 
quote from TKW:
vangDI' tlhIngan SuvwI' ngoy' qorDu'Daj;
vanDI' qorDu'Daj ngoy' tlhIngan SuvwI'.

I would think this may have come up in some of the other translation 
efforts (or more directly in the canon) given the importance of the 
concept in Klingon, but I have not been able to find it.  While 
variations like ngoy'wI' (one who is responsible), as well as ngoy' 
or Qu', are useful, I was hoping someone could help further on 
this.  One recommendation offered so far was ngoy'taHghach.

Thanks,
Rich






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