[tlhIngan Hol] My list of 19 new words revisited

[Jesse Manoogian]

SuStel wrote:

>> be blonde: SuD (be yellow) works fine
>
>I would accept a phrase like *jIb SuD, *but not *Human SuD.* In English
>a person can be blond, but Klingon *SuD* isn't specifically for
>describing hair color, so *Human SuD* would be like saying /yellow
>human/ in English.
>
>By the way, *SuD* means /be blue, green, yellow,/ not just /be yellow.
>/By describing hair as *SuD,* you're also describing people who dye
>their hair those colors (or maybe aliens with green or blue hair). This
>is fine, but if you ever want to make a distinction between the yellow
>sort of *SuD* and the blue or green sorts of *SuD,* you'll want to say
>*SuD 'ej wov*/*SuD* and light, yellow./ *SuD jIb 'ej wov*/the hair is
>yellow;/*SuDbogh jIb 'ej wovbogh / SuDbogh 'ej wovbogh jIb*/hair which
>is yellow./

Hmmmm, I wasn't even thinking about saying "blonde /person/". I like "SuDbogh 'ej wovbogh jIb" (I just reviewed the use of -bogh).

>> be straight (of hair): beQ (be flat)
>
>We have the word *wan* which means /be straight./ I don't see why this
>can't be applied to hair.
Maybe it could! I know in Spanish straight hair is "liso", so I figured a lot of languages would have different words for those two meanings of "straight".

>> be curly: gho rur (resemble a circle)
>
>If someone said *gho rur jIbDaj*/his hair resembles a circle,/ I
>wouldn't understand. I don't have a good alternative, though.

I was hoping for a phrase meaning "round hair", but I couldn't find out how to say "be round" in Klingon.

>I would consider *SuD 'ej wovbe'* to be blue. Hazel, the color, is light
>golden brown. /Brown/ is *Doq 'ej wovbe'* (so how to say /light brown/
>is unclear to me... maybe *Doq 'ej loQ wovbe'*?).//The color /gold/ is a
>sort of yellow-orange, which would be somewhere between *Doq* and *SuD
>'ej wov.* Hazel eyes shift between brown and light gold, sometimes with
>blue in them. There's no way you're going to get Klingon colors to
>describe them simply.

Klingon color terms can sure get unwieldy! Its color division is pretty unusual by Terran standards. Although a lot of human languages merge their words for blue and green, I've never seen a language that combines blue, green AND yellow before. There are a lot of fascinating questions that can be asked about Klingon vision (like "Do Klingons see ultraviolet light?" or "Do any Klingons have achromatopsia?") when you have an advanced civilization with so few basic color terms.

>> freckles: DIrvemmey (skin-mark-PL)
>
>*vem* seems to me to be tracks or marks left behind by something making
>them, not naturally occurring features. I don't have an alternative.

I was hoping for a Klingon word for "spot", but couldn't find one nor anything like it. This (freckle/spot) would be a good one for our wish list for Dr. Okrand.

> glasses: mIn'al'onmey (eye-glass-PL)

>I would figure that out, but I highly doubt that would be the real term.
>Maybe *mIn laH tI'wI'* or something similar.

"mIn laH" is a GREAT construction! I was puzzling over how to say sight/vision (all I could find was the verb "to sight" "puS" in this war-heavy-vocabulary language).

>> braces: Ho'baS (tooth-metal -- it's singular -- as I understand, they
>> say the singular "brace" in British English, so this has precedent)
>
>I would understand this, but as with glasses I don't know if this would
>be the way to say it. I would imagine *Ho' wanmoHwI' *or *Ho' wanmoHmeH
>baS* or something like that.

That's even better. "Ho'baS" could also mean "amalgams" or "gold teeth" (although "qol'om Ho'Du'" would be a good translation of gold teeth).

>In Klingon, in most cases, all nouns are inherently both singular and
>plural. That is, if I say the word *Ho'* it means both /tooth/ and
>/teeth./ Context or grammar may make it explicit, but you can't just
>take the word *Ho'* and force people to interpret it as singular.

Oh, I'm fine with the gloss teeth-metal for "Ho'baS". I wasn't implying that the "Ho'" part had to be singular.

I know that the non-head parts of compounds don't need a plural ending, but we do have -mey and -Du' and -pu' so I figured that pluralizable nouns (used as nouns) had to have their pluralness marked.

> polo shirt: wep yor poSmoH ([sleeved] shirt with open top)
>
>This says /jacket it causes the top to open./ Notice that *wep* is a
>regional-only term for /sleeved shirt;/ outside of whichever region on
>Kronos it means that people will assume you're talking about a jacket.
>There is no standard term for /shirt, /but there is a description of a
>t-shirt, which is *yIvbeH SeQHa'*/informal tunic./ Now, a polo shirt
>isn't as informal as a t-shirt, but it's not exactly a tunic either. Its
>defining characteristics are that it is short-sleeved, heavier than a
>t-shirt, and has a collar. Given all that, I might compromise with
>*mongDech ghajbogh yIvbeH SeQHa'.* Not perfect, but that's what you get
>trying to translate between cultures.

"Collar-having informal tunic"? Works for me.

> tank top: be'nalmoqwI' (a calque of the English wifebeater)
>
>NONONONONO! Ugh! The term is bad enough in English without porting it to
>Klingon.
>
>Just say *tlhay ghajbe'bogh yIvbeH*/tunic without sleeves./

You really dislike the English term "wifebeater", don't you? :) "Sleeve-lacking tunic" sounds nice, though . . . but don't ALL yIvbeHmey lack sleeves?

>> skateboard: rutlh'echlet (wheel-board)
>
>I'd get it.

It seems so perfect . . .

>> guitar: javHurDagh (six + stringed instrument)
>
>I wouldn't get it. If you don't want to approximate by just saying
>*HurDagh,* be explicit and say *jav SIrgh ghajbogh HurDagh.* Or use a
>foreign term and say /guitar./

Or "ghI'tar".

>> bass: javHurDagh jaQ (deep guitar)
>
>I don't think *jaQ* means that kind of /deep./

What word would one use for a deep sound? 'eS?

>> be teenage, be adolescent: nenchoH (become adult)
>
>Your translation of *nenchoH *as /become adult/ is correct, but /become
>adult/ doesn't mean /be teenage; be adolescent./ *nenbe'* /not mature;/
>*nenHa'*/immature;/*wej nen*/not yet mature./ I don't have any simple
>translation for /teenage/ that isn't literally just /more than twelve,
>less than twenty./
>
>> teen, adolescent, youth, young adult: nuv nenchoH (person becoming adult)
>
>*nuv nenchoH* is a nonsensical phrase saying /he/she/it becomes mature,
>person./ If you want to say /the //person is becoming an adult,/ say
>*nenchoH nuv.* If you want /the person who is becoming an adult, /say
>*nenchoHbogh nuv.*

::Makes a note to himself to research -bogh more::.

Could "nenbogh nuv" mean the noun "adult"?
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