[tlhIngan Hol] mermaid

[De'vID]

On Wed, 8 May 2019 at 09:57, mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:

> At the tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI'pu' facebook group, there has been a
> discussion about a new word for "mermaid".
>
> If it's Ca'Non (is it ?) can someone post it in the list too, so that it
> can be archived ?
>
> (...and because I want to add it to my dictionary too..)
>

Here's the full email I received from author Wulf Moon (
http://driftweave.com/), which I'm forwarding with his permission.

Note: the lowercase L's are obviously meant to be uppercase i's.

On Wed, 8 May 2019 at 02:56, [email address redacted] wrote:

> Dear de’vID,
>
>
>
> I looked up my story “Rapture of the Deep” written June 10, 1997 for the
> STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS I contest edited by Dean Wesley Smith, John
> Ordover, and Paula Block. This story had mer-beings in it, and made
> reference to ancient Klingon mariner legends about mermaids. After
> consulting Klingon databases, it became apparent there was no word for
> mer-people in the Klingon language. I then wrote to Lawrence Schoen, who
> was acting director of the Klingon Language Institute at the time. He
> acknowledged there were no such names in the Klingon language and that he
> would have to develop one for me, and I believe he said he would enter it
> into the database. He avoided male and female mer- designations in the
> English language—we communicated about that--and instead he combined the
> terms “fish” and “demons” to coincide with Klingon mythic language
> concepts, bypassing English gender designated words for merfolk.
>
>
>
> Lawrence Schoen authorized my use of the following term in the Klingon
> language for mer-people, or “fish demons” in the Klingon tongue:
>
>
>
> blQHa'DlbaH  qa'mlgh
>
>
>
> I then submitted my story to the contest. Alas, it did not place, so it
> did not get published by Pocket Books. Dean Wesley Smith later told me the
> story was an excellent concept, that I could build an entire career out of
> the idea, but it was too big of an idea for a Star Trek story. The
> following year, I wrote “Seventh Heaven,” a Borg love story, placed, and
> was published in Pocket Books STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS II anthology.
>
>
>
> Here is an excerpt from “Rapture of the Deep” where I used the term
> authorized by the Klingon Language Institute director:
>
>
>
> Picard's brows arched.  "The Nongar Sector?  I was not aware of any worlds
> there."  Picard looked down, tapped the star chart, enlarging a section.
>
> "That's just it," Worf said.  "There's nothing there but a binary star.
> However, Nongar does match with his flight path when we rescued him.  I
> also found brine residue on both his bags."
>
> "Thank you, Mr. Worf.  Counselor, since we have no record of any planets
> in the Nongar System, do you believe there's any substance to DaiMon
> Boktar's claims?"
>
> "I don't know for sure, Captain.  Betazoids can't read Ferengis."
>
> Worf smirked.  "Who needs to--it's well known that Ferengis always lie."
>
> Troi frowned.  "Captain, I do believe by his facial expressions that
> there's an element of truth in what he's saying.  In fact, my feeling is
> that he's telling us the truth, counting on us to take it for a lie."
>
> Picard enlarged the image of Nongar, a yellow binary star.  "Interesting
> theory, Counselor--the Ferengi are extremely crafty.  I'm also surprised to
> find a Ferengi so far off the trade routes in such a small vessel.  Time is
> money, and no one knows that adage better than the Ferengi.  So what's he
> doing here?"
>
> The pouch was feeling very heavy in Worf's hand.  "Sir, the Ferengi *is* hiding
> something.  I found these in his belongings."
>
> Worf stepped forward, spilling the contents on the desk.  Gold and silver
> coins, bars and strips of latinum, an emerald encrusted crucifix--all
> glittered on the black desktop like a wealth of stars spread across the
> blackness of space.
>
> Picard reached out, picking up a coin.  He held it carefully between his
> fingers, turning it slowly.  "Incredible.  This is a Spanish doubloon.  A
> perfect specimen--the ones I've seen have all been encrusted by salt water
> deposits."
>
> Pointing to a triangular shaped coin, Worf said, "This coin is from the
> Klingon homeworld *Qo'noS*, from the ages when warriors sailed the seas.
> If it's authentic, it's the only one of its kind.  It bears the image of
> those we called *blQHa'DlbaH* *qa'mlgh*--the Fish Demons."
>
> "I've never heard the term," Picard said.
>
> "The Fish Demons were part Klingon, part fish.  Early Klingon mariners
> always kept a captive onboard for sacrifice to these creatures when seas
> became violent.  They feared the *blQHa'DlbaH qa'mlgh* would rise from
> the depths and take their ships.  When Klingons gave up their superstitions
> and chose the Way of the Warrior, they destroyed every image of the gods.
> All were melted down.  Only pictures of them remain today in our historical
> archives."
>
>
>
>
>
> I hope that helps. I later met Lawrence Schoen at a Nebula Awards banquet
> and thanked him for creating the Klingon word for my story. He acknowledged
> that it had posed an interesting challenge.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Wulf Moon
>

-- 
De'vID
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