[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: nav HablI'

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Klingon word: 	nav HablI'
Part of speech: 	noun
Definition: 	FAX machine
Source: 	HQ (5:2 p20)
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(Mark Mandel, HQ 5.2;20, June 1996):  After we (Dragon Systems) recorded the "native speakers" to make the acoustic models to build the speech recognition for the Language Lab on the Klingon CD-ROM, I got the idea of sending each speaker a formal thank-you letter. I translated our company letterhead into Klingon and, using the KLIpIqaD font, scissors, tape, and a color copier, made a bunch of Dragon Systems stationery with Klingon in {pIqaD} at the top and transliterated Klingon and English in small type at the bottom. But since this was associated with an official Klingon product, I wanted to be sure my Klingon was correct. I had been working with Marc Okrand by phone and e-mail during the project, and so I sent him the text of my transliterated Klingon letterhead, asking especially about my word for fax, which at the time was a compound word with no space. He wrote back, approximately, that he liked the idea, but he would prefer to express it as a two-word phrase, {nav HablI'}; and he also suggested the corresponding {ghogh HablI'} for telephone. […] 
    Since my office is in a different building from the company reception desk I prefer to give people the number of the fax machine closest to my desk. I put both numbers on the letterhead, labeling them in English "Klingon fax" and "general fax".  Dr. Okrand suggested {le'be'} for "general", and so of course that's what I used. [...]  As for {Hoch} for general - that works, if you consider {Hoch} to mean everyone (so the front desk fax is the "everyone fax"). The only problem there is that it could be misinterpreted as all (the) fax machines,’ since a plural suffix on nouns is never required. Perhaps an alternative is to use {le'be'} "unexceptional", which might also be translated "nonspecific" or the like ({nav HablI' le'be'}).

SEE ALSO:
HablI'  			data transceiving device (n)
teS HablI’ 		[ear receiver] (n)
'evnagh Se' HablI' 	subspace radio (n)
ghogh HablI'		telephone (n)
  -- ghogh HablI' mI' yIper 	
      What is the telephone number? (TNK)

--
Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
    Please contribute relevant vocabulary from the last year or two. I’ve fallen 
    behind in updating my files and adding cross-references for related words.