tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 11 08:27:29 2010
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RE: Hypothetical (reconstructed) vocabulary?
Voragh:
>>> Over the weekend I began compiling a list of hypothetical
>>> (reconstructed) vocabulary, chiefly from compound nouns.
lay'tel SIvten:
>> *{pIv} could also be translated as any of the other stock science
>> (fiction) terms for a faster-than-light drive: faster-than-light/FTL,
>> jump, hyper(space/drive), star(drive), etc. It could even mean 'magic'
>> or 'inter-'. Then there's the possibility that Klingon physicists have
>> a completely different approach to physics or this area of physics as
>> compared to Terran physicists. "Warp" drive, field, factor, etc., is
>> an idiom, and to carry it over as a direct translation of hypothetical
>> *{pIv} seems to me to be imprudent, at best. We simply don't know what
>> {pIv} means. Doesn't Star Trek also have other 'warp' phrases, such as
>> 'warp core'? Do we have equivalents of these in Klingon?
ter'eS:
>This is an interesting project. Here's another set of words:
>
> pu' pu'HIch pu'beH pu'bej DaSpu'
>
>When I took technical Russian many years ago, I remember thinking that
>you could really tell that Russian came from a peasant culture, since
>even the most technical terms were built from very basic words. For
>example, <vodarod> 'hydrogen' is literally 'water-born', and the word
>for 'acid' is <okis'>, or 'pickle', so that sulphuric acid is literally
>'pickled sulphur'. Seeing Klingon words like {voqSIp} and {yInSIp} makes
>me think that Klingon is similar, so that, whatever {pIv} means, it's
>likely to be something very simple and basic, maybe 'fold' or even
>'bubble'.
This also fits in with what little we know of the history of Klingon technology. IIRC the Klingons who, at the time were apparently a primitive peasant/warrior culture, acquired high-tech when they drove the Hur'q off their planet sometime during Earth's 14th century:
KGT 153: ... the Hur'q, a race of humanoids from the Gamma Quadrant who developed a reputation as ruthless invaders who would attack other societies primarily for the purpose of robbery, stealing whatever they could and destroying the rest. The Hur'q invaded the Klingon homeworld some 1,000 years ago, and the loss to the Klingons was so disastrous, not to mention humiliating, that Klingon society became increasingly intolerant of other races.
The bat'leth of Kahless was stolen by the Hur'q and, centuries later, recovered by Kor and Worf in 2372. (DS9 "The Sword of Kahless")
Shane MiQogh wrote:
"They call themselves *Kam'Jahtae*... They adopted the name *Hur'q* from the Klingons during the invasion... they actually captured Kronos and then they retreated because they couldn't handle the Klingon insurgents... This is considered official to a few [fans] because this information was proposed to Paramount and they approved it, then it was released as a game for the Playstation called 'Star Trek: Invasion'." [June 2006]
(cf. http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Invasion_(game) based on the novel series http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Invasion%21 )
Spacecraft and warp drives would have been back-engineered from captured or abandoned Hur'q technology left on Kronos. I imagine that Klingons first learned to operate Hur'q tech, then to repair it, and finally to understand the science behind it.
>When I look at the word {pu'}, I think it can't possibly mean just
>'phaser'. I was always taught that the simplest words in a language were
>generally the oldest and most basic, and I can't see why Klingons would
>consider 'phaser' a basic term, especially since it's not even a Klingon
>technology. It must be an older, simpler term, extended to cover phasers
>in the modern era. I've always wished that {pu'} was the word for
>'lightning strike', based on a concept of what a phaser beam might look
>like and its use to also mean 'spike' in {DaSpu'}.
{pu'} phaser
{pu'} spike
KGT 58: On the toe of each high boot ({DaS}), likewise made of animal hide ({Dir}), was a clawlike spike called a {pu'}. The word {pu'} now means phaser, and the newer meaning probably developed from the older spike because of the lightning speed with which one delivered a blow with the sharp pu'. In contemporary Klingon, the spike on the toe of a boot is always called a {DaSpu'} (boot spike), never {pu'} alone.
KGT 56: The more general term {pu'}, "phaser", may also apply to the Klingon disruptor, but it is used just as often to refer to the Romulan disruptor, Federation phaser, and other similar devices. Since the word is short, {pu'} is heard frequently--even more frequently than {nISwI'} - especially in the throes of combat, in such formations as {pu'HIch} (phaser pistol), {pu'beH} (phaser rifle), {pu'DaH} (phaser banks), and even {pu'beq} (phaser crew, the crew members responsible for the operation of the weapons). Despite the prevalence of the {pu'} words, in the strictest sense, the correct names for all of these weapons are the {nISwI'} forms. ... Similarly, {pu' bach} is "shoot a phaser".
Note BTW the existence of another word for spike, {DuQwI'}:
KGT 58: A warrior's glove ... had ... sharp protrusions at the knuckles. If there was a special name for these protrusions, it is lost; they are now called simply {DuQwI'mey} (spikes).
KGT 61: A spike is a {DuQwI'} and the small spikes on the d'k tahg [pommel] are usually called {DuQwI'Hommey} (little spikes).
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons