[Tlhingan-hol] Borg naming convention, assimulation

[lojmIt tI'wI'nuv]

Seven of Nine is a proper name. Do you translate the meaning of YOUR name into their native tongue when you introduce yourself to foreigners?

Maybe Klingons would call her "Seven of Nine". If they don't speak English well enough to pronounce that well, it might come out *Se'vIn 'av nayIn*.

If I were translating the meaning of it, the challenge becomes how to translate a sentence fragment. TKD tells us a lot about translating sentences and translating clauses so that they function properly within the context of a complete sentence, but what does "Seven of Nine" really mean? I'd be drawn to {Hut'e' Soch} (On the topic of nine, seven), because that carries the meaning well, though it's weird grammar for a sentence fragment. The {-'e'} would indicate the topic of the action of a main verb, like {Hut'e' Soch vIponglu'}. "On the topic of nine, I am called seven." And so, a sort of clipping might explain the loss of the entire main verb. It's ugly, but to my ear it beats the literal "Nine's seven" you were suggesting.

As for "You will be assimilated," this is quite alien to the Klingon psyche. Klingons conquer, they do not assimilate. These two actions could only be confused by someone not familiar enough with either of them.

The Borg has no respect for its enemies. They are less like a collection of predators than they are like victims of a disease that they cannot help themselves from spreading. The plague that consumes them becomes the plague that drives them to consume others.

So, it is unlikely that Klingons learn the names of Borg. The Borg is less of an enemy than an infestation that threatens to weaken those who engage them. There's nothing gained by winning a fight with Borg. It only attracts more of them. The Borg don't kill you. They enslave you, destroying your identity, and so, your honor.

Upon encountering an assimilated Klingon, an unassimilated Klingon would show no more respect or concern for the assimilated than he would for a corpse, for the same reason.

A Klingon without individual responsibility for his actions is dead and gone.

pItlh
lojmIt tI'wI'nuv



On May 25, 2012, at 12:33 PM, De'vID jonpIn wrote:

> I'm pretty sure this would've come up on the list before, but how does
> one go about expression the typical Borg designation in Klingon?  For
> example, Seven of Nine?  {Hut Soch} is ambiguous (does it mean
> "9-7"?).
> 
> Also, I'm sure someone must have translated "You will be assimilated"
> before.  {jumuv net raD}?  But "You will be assimilated" is more like
> an impersonal statement of fact; it is not explicitly stated that _we_
> will be assimilating you.
> 
> -- 
> De'vID
> 
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