[tlhIngan Hol] expressing "the accused was sentenced" and "the sentence was carried out"

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Fri Jul 9 08:01:04 PDT 2021


Examples of the verb {bIj} "punish":

  qabIj 
  I punish you. (KGT)

  vavlI' loDnI'lI' je DaSammeH ghe'tor Da'elmo' 'ej Damejmo'
    QeHchoH qa'pu' vaj lubIjlu' 
  They will pay for the anger you caused by entering and leaving,
    Gre'thor in search of your kin. (PB)

Note  the synonym {Hup} "punish" bur AFAIK there are no examples. And there's {qIch} "condemn" with only one (deliberately mangled) example:

  rura' pente'Daq Soj, Doch, <luch?> vIqIch  (sic!!)
  We is condemning food... things and supplies to Rura Penthe. (ST6)

(Uhura's Klingon was rusty and she probably meant {vIHIj} "I deliver/transport goods" Fortunately the border guard found it amusing and not suspicious.)

Using the indefinite subject suffix {-lu'} feels appropriate for serious legal matters and follows the example we have:

   vImuHlu' net wuqHa'!
   My death sentence was commuted! (ENT "Affliction")

--  Voragh

-----------------------------------Original Message-----------------------------------
From: mayqel qunen'oS

ghunchu'wI':
> I think the meaning of "sentence" in those sentences is carried by the 
> Klingon word {bIj} "punishment".

I've thought of using something like {nuv pumlu'bogh bIj bo'DIj} for "the court punishes the accused"; the problem though is that reading something like that, includes both the meaning of "sentencing" as well as "carrying out the sentence".

Anyways, perhaps I could use something like {XvaD bIj SovmoH bo'DIj}, where the "X" could stand for the accused, the audience of the trial, or whoever else depending on the occasion. And then playing with the noun {bIj} to express the actual "carrying out" of the sentence. Or maybe, I could just write "the accused was imprisoned for X years", or "was executed", or "was forced to wear qep'a' t-shirts for X years".



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