[Tlhingan-hol] Invitation Translation

[Felix Malmenbeck]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about CK; that would indeed predate the {rep H-maH h M-maH m} system.

> Klingon for the Galactic Traveler gave us a new hour-counting system,
> where one says "how many times it [clock chimes] is heard." Since clocks
> only usually chime on a twelve-hour cycle (there are exceptions), 12
> noon and 12 midnight would both be {wa'maHlogh Qoylu'pu'}; 7 am and 7 pm
> would both be {Sochlogh Qoylu'pu'}. Once again, however, we were given a
> scheme that does not include minutes.

As far as I can tell, this does not come from KGT, but from a 1999 e-mail (also printed in HolQeD 8:1, going by Klingonska Akademien's archives). It also gave us the {rep H-maH h M-maH m} system (well, to be exact, it never gets more specific than talking in tens of minutes):

http://klingonska.org/canon/search/?file=1999-02-02-email.txt&get=source
================================================

     In dealing with time in
interplanetary communication,
Klingons have come to use the 24-
hour system favored by the
Federation. There are 24 hours in a
day (meaning 24 Earth hours in an
Earth day), numbered one through
24. For example:

     {tera' rep wa'}
     Earth hour one or one o'clock

     {tera' rep cha'maH}
     Earth hour 20 or 20 o'clock
     or eight o'clock p.m.

     {tera' rep loS wejmaH}
     Earth hour 4:30

     If the context is clear, the word
{tera'} <Earth> may be left out:

     {rep cha'maH}
     20 o'clock, eight o'clock p.m.

================================================

As for {X-logh Qoylu'pu'} going in 12-hour cycles: We never get any examples apart from {'arlogh}, {cha'logh} and {chorghlogh}, so there's no definite proof that {wa'maH wejlogh Qoylu'pu'} is legitimate. However, there is the statement "Originally, this was a statement of time in the traditional Klingon system, but it is now also used for the 24-hour system."
To me, this would indicate that it goes up to 24. This would also make sense because it is no longer a literal statement, but an adaptation of an expression to a new system.

Also, it's not clear if the thing heard was heard only once every hour, or if the number of times it was heard each hour corresponded to the label of that hour. Or, in fact, if it was even heard at even intervals.

To take an example:
If you live near a church with a bell tower, you may hear it chime X times to mark X o'clock.
When somebody asks you {qen 'arlogh Qoylu'pu'?} (one of the speculated original forms), you can answer {X-logh}, with X being the number of chimes you've heard over the last hour.

If you live near a minaret, you may hear a call to prayer five times a day.
When somebody asks you {DaHjaj 'arlogh Qoylu'pu'?} (another of the speculated forms), you can answer {X-logh}, and to somebody who knows the prayer schedule, that'll give at least some indication of what time it is.

However, the call to prayer isn't repeated X times to mark the X:th prayer. If somebody asks you {qen 'arlogh Qoylu'pu'?}, and you like taking things literally, you might answer {wa'logh} or {paghlogh} all day long, because you've never heard the call to prayer twice in quick succession.

Likewise, if somebody were to ask the near-church-dweller {DaHjaj 'arlogh Qoylu'pu'?}, and they're not feeling very helpful, they may add up all the times they've heard the chimes in the day, so 1:00 becomes {wa'logh}, 2:00 becomes {wejlogh}, 3:00 becomes {javlogh}, etc.


This, of course, is pure speculation, but, basically, we don't know what this thing that is heard is.
[...and, depending on how you interpret MO's comments on the matter, it seems that perhaps even most Klingons don't.]