[Tlhingan-hol] On the word {tlho'} and its kin

[David Trimboli]

On 1/2/2012 12:50 PM, Qov wrote:
>
> I decided to have a Klingon scientist explicitly say <jItlhIj> but she
> was speaking to an alien, and she was experienced with alien cultures,
> and understood the concept of alien word-rituals different from
> replacement proverbs. She isn't, however, comfortable with the concept
> of abasement as part of the ritual of apology. And what do Klingons with
> no knowledge of alien cultures do with that word, tlhIj?
>
> Perhaps this. In one scene a Klingon offers a replacement proverb for
> poor behaviour and in assessing his attitude towards her, the other
> Klingon thinks, <SIbI' tlhIjta'>. I'm not sure if that's right. Does
> <qa'meH vIttlhegh ja'ta'> mean roughly the same thing as <tlhIjta'> to a
> Klingon? I've used tlhIj twice as though it did.
>
> A crewmember says: "HoD, ghu'vam vIqaSmoHta'mo' jItlhIj." He's
> deliberately precipitated an uncomfortable situation. He's not sorry. It
> doesn't constitute a loss of honour, in fact he's done it to preserve
> people's honour. He's not looking for forgiveness. He just wants to
> acknowledge that he knows he brought this upon them and that the captain
> may not be at this moment entirely happy about the situation.
>
> For me QoS is a word to express sympathy, or sometimes regret, never
> apology.

Why restrict {tlhIj} to words? Why not treat it the same way as {tlho'}? 
When you apologize, you do something to make up for your actions. An 
apology for killing an enemy in unjust combat might be to give the 
enemy's family some of your land.

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