[tlhIngan Hol] How would you express "root of a tree" ?

[Will Martin]

ghargh’a’

Sent from my iPhone. 
Will

> On Jul 13, 2019, at 6:22 PM, nIqolay Q <niqolay0 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Sat, Jul 13, 2019 at 5:13 PM mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:
>> If I say {muSujpu' ghargh mIllogh}, what am I saying ?
>> 
>> The picture of a serpent disturbed me, or the picture of a worm disturbed me ?
>> 
>> Since {ghargh} can mean both, how could someone say that I don't need to specify further ?
> 
> Probably something like "The picture of a long thin wriggly animal with no legs disturbed me." This would include pictures of serpents, worms, and caterpillars. ('ughDuq ghargh was given as a translation for "caterpillar".) It would probably also include a number of other things with a similar body shape, like caecilians, eels, leeches, nematodes, gagh, and Shai-Hulud (juStaHvIS qo' Say'qu'moHjaj).
>  
>> There is a line in matthew, where jesus says something like (I don't have the original text at hand now):
>> 
>> "who of you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a serpent ?"
>> 
>> Suppose I wrote:
>> 
>> {‘ej ghotI’ HevmeH wa’ nuv puqloD, tlhobchugh puqvam, puqvamvaD ghargh nob vay’ ?}
>> 
>> Can't the reader here assume that the {ghargh} could mean "worm" instead ?
>> 
>> Now, don't tell me "it wouldn't make for a big difference in meaning", or "to a klingon it would be the same".
>> 
>> Because it would make a *major* difference in meaning, and klingons as well as their understanding of things, can burn in hell for all I care.
> 
> What kind of fish is Jesus talking about? What kind of snake? The word "snake" or "serpent" can apply to harmless snakes and to very dangerous ones. Some snakes can be eaten, some can't. The precise snake in question could have an important effect on the meaning of the proverb, but the translations don't specify. In context, it's clear that the specific kind of snake isn't what's important. What's important is the idea of 1) not giving someone what they asked for and 2) giving them something probably useless and possibly even dangerous instead. Whether you give your son the kind of ghargh that has scales and big fangs, or the kind of ghargh that's tiny, has no eyes, and eats dirt, either way, you're not giving him a ghotI'.
> 
> Having said all that, if you still want to make sure that the reader knows that giving your son a snake instead of a fish is a petaQ tonSaw', ghargh Qob "dangerous legless-wiggly-thing" might work.
> 
> (Actually, given Klingon cuisine, the whole parable might need to be rewritten. A lunch that can fight back would probably be considered quite invigorating.)
> 
> 
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