[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: HI'tuy

[jaSwa']

Whether or not slavery is negative comes down to ethics (Klingons themselves have been known to keep the populace of some conquered worlds in a serf-like state, which isn't far off), but toywI''a' is one of my favorite examples of Klingon augmentation: it takes "servant" and makes it into the ULTIMATE example of a servant (similar to their opposites pIn "boss" and pIn'a' "master"). We still have plenty of dictators today. Usually countries run today by a dictator tend to be described as "third world." There's quite a bit in Africa. Saddam Hussein was a recently deceased dictator. Kim Jong-Un is a notable dictator who's still kicking. It depends on what aspect of a HI' is being augmented more. If a HI''a' is characterized by having absolute control over an entire planet, "overlord" comes to mind (since a tyrant can run a province of a country and still be a tyrant), but if it is augmenting the power one has and uses, "tyrant" works because a just ruler would have less power in concept because one's ethical code prevents certain powers from being used in certain ways (even though one's position allows it by definition), while a tyrant would in theory have more power since he or she has no such limitation. The more I think about it, the more I think "tyrant" might fit pretty well for HI''a'. I'd need more canon examples of who constitutes a HI''a' to know for certain.

jaSwa'

Hochlogh bechjaj Hoch jaghpu'wI'

De'vID <de.vid.jonpin at gmail.com> wrote:

>Quvar:
>> We shouldn't forget that many of those words with {-'a'} and {-Hom} cannot always be translated literally from klingon to english. A {be'Hom} is not an "inferior woman", or a {bIQ'a'} is more than just a big piece of water -
>
>The example that I like, straight from TKD, is {toy'wI'} "servant" and
>{toy'wI''a'} "slave" - this illustrates quite clearly that {-'a'} is
>not necessarily "positive".
>
>Quvar:
>> and shouldn't ocean be ngeng'a'?
>
>Why would ocean be {ngeng'a'}?  A {ngeng} is freshwater and is
>surrounded by land.  A {bIQ'a'} is saltwater (well, assuming Qo'noS is
>similar to Earth, since it's class M) and surrounds land.  I would
>think of an inland sea if I saw {ngeng'a'}.
>
>Quvar:
>> When searching for a word for "tyrant", the translator maybe thought something like "Hey, a {HI'} is really not negative, let's make it a {HI''a'} - that might be very close."
>
>So a {HI'} is someone with absolute power over some domain, and a
>{HI''a'} is someone with absolute power over everything.  Klingons
>refer to Molor as a {HI''a'} because he wasn't merely a dictator, but
>controlled all of Qo'noS (except for small areas of resistance).  The
>word becomes associated with tyranny, the way English "dictator" is
>now associated with some leaders in the WWII period.  When translating
>{HI''a'} from Klingon to English, the closest term with the same
>associations is "tyrant".
>
>--
>De'vID
>
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