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

[David Trimboli]

On 12/13/2012 3:20 AM, Lieven wrote:
>
> 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 - and shouldn't ocean be ngeng'a'?

Nouns with type 1 suffixes are things distinct from the counterparts 
without the suffix; they are not just bigger/smaller or more/less 
important versions of the same thing. If there exists a standard 
construction, there is no room for interpretation. If the speaker 
constructs his own word, he must explain himself.

For example, if I said {De'wI''a'}, it doesn't just mean "big computer" 
or "impressive computer." Since there is no standard interpretation, I 
must make sure my audience understands that I am referring to the 
supercomputer in my data center.

If a coinage is used often enough, it will gain a standard meaning. TKD 
gives us {qep} "meeting," but years of use by the KLI has solidified the 
word {qep'a'} as meaning "convention." (We usually translate it as 
"conference," but a conference can also be a meeting between two people, 
which is not what a {qep'a'} is.)

Every speaking community will have its own coinages, and we mustn't 
expect that what one community thinks of with an {-'a'} or {-Hom} will 
match what another community thinks.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/