tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri May 29 07:04:24 2009

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: chay' chIjmeH tlhuDtaHbogh Hovmey DIlo'laH?

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) 

Voragh:
>>> For the astronomy buffs... Lacking a word for pulsar I came up with
>>> {tlhuDtaHbogh Hov} "star which continuously emits (energy/radiation)" 
>>> on the model of {Dejpu'bogh Hov} "collapsed star".  Right or wrong?

bI'reng:
>> My first reaction was "What star doesn't emit radiation?"

I had the exact same thought ten minutes after I posted.

>> I took a quick look at Wikipedia. Pulsars emit beams of radiation at
>> predictable intervals (ie, pulses). 
>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar 
>> Maybe {tIH bachbogh Hov}?  Does {tIH bachqa'taHbogh Hov} suggested
>> repeated intervals?

lay'tel SIvten:
>My impression is that {-qa'} means resumption (after a pause), not so
>much repetition.

That's how I understand it.  I suspect that Okrand would be satisfied with just {-taH}.  

One might use {-qa'taH} "continuously resume after a pause" (i.e. stop-and-start, stop-and-start, etc.) although this combination of suffixes has never been used by Okrand.  Except for {-meH} in {quvqa'meH vIttlhegh}, {-qa'} has never been used with another verb suffix.

>How about {nom jIrbogh Hov} ('star which rotates rapidly)?  This
>addresses one of the features of a pulsar, although not the one we
>name it after.

{tIH bach(qa'taH)bogh Hov} and {nom jIrbogh Hov} sound like definitions, not translations.  A fine distinction, I admit.  

I would replace {nom} with {-qu'}:  *{jIrqu'bogh Hov}.  We often forget that {-qu'} "emphatic" can be used on action verbs as well as qualities:
 
  This suffix emphasizes or affirms whatever immediately precedes it. 
    {yIHaDqu'}        study him/her well
    {nuQaw'qu'be'}    they have not finished us off
  The roving nature of {-qu'} can be seen in the following set: 
    {pIHoHvIpbe'qu'}  we are NOT afraid to kill you
    {pIHoHvIpqu'be'}  we are not AFRAID to kill you
    {pIHoHqu'vIpbe'}  we are not afraid to KILL you. 
  The first word might be used after an enemy challenged the bravery
  of the speaker. The second might be followed by an explanation such
  as, "We are not willing to kill you because we require your services."
  The third word would be used to emphasize killing, as opposed to
  some other form of punishment... The rover {-qu'} "emphatic" may
  follow verbs functioning adjectivally. In this usage, it is usually
  translated "very".   [TKD 48ff]

In addition to {jIr} "rotate, twirl" there's also the {DIng} "spin".


 
--
Voragh                          
Canon Master of the Klingons

Back to archive top level