[tlhIngan Hol] [English] Using "pong" as a verb to say "my name is..." ?

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Tue Oct 4 12:56:46 PDT 2016


1. Did anyone provide examples WRT the “My name is X” question?  Here’s the verb {pong} “name, call”:

  roD 'oHvaD juHqo' ponglu' neH
  It [i.e. Qo'noS] is usually referred to as simply "The Homeworld." (S27)

  'oHvaD Suto'vo'qor pong qotar
  Kotar named it Sto-vo-kor. (PB)

  DaHjaj matlh jupna' pIpong
  Today we name you a true friend of Maltz. (FMC)

… and the homophonus noun {pong}:

  'u' 'oH ghe'naQ pong['e'].
  The name of the opera is <'u'>. ('U'-MTK, sic)

   luqara' 'oH pongwI[j]'e'
  My name is Lukara. (PB, sic)

 RYAN NYP chu' 'oH muD Duj'e' 'ej "ST. LOUIS toDuj" 'oH pongDaj'e'.  (NASM)
  [untranslated; FYI “Ryan NYP” is a {muD Duj} “airplane”]


2.  While I’m at it, here’s the canon for {ba'} “sit”:

  quSDaq ba'lu''a'
  Is this seat taken?  TKD

 ba'!
 Sit! (Clipped pet command) PK

  quSDaq bIba'
  You sit in a chair. KGT

  quSDaq ba'
  He/she sits in a chair.  KGT

N.B.  {quSDaq ba’} is also an idiom meaning “that’s obvious” (cf. KGT p.124).



--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons




On Behalf Of Aurélie Demonchaux
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 4:36 PM

ok thanks for confirming this! Just to check, is there a canon reference on this being informal, stating that the prefix trick and / or <-lu’> suffix make the sentence informal, or is it more an opinion / deduction that some Klingon linguists have formed based on their knowledge of the language?
I thought about this further, and I figure that actually the general guideline (on reflexive vs non-reflexive verbs) is to just follow English usage (for the equivalent verbs), unless stated otherwise in canon materials.
So then if someone gives an order to 1 other person to sit in Klingon, it will be < yIba’ > but not < yIba’egh >, because in English you would normally say “sit down” but not “sit yourself down” (although the 2nd phrasing does actually exist, it seems to be nonstandard).

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