[tlhIngan Hol] baS 'In

[Will Martin]

Careful about adding an article to the English translation. Klingon doesn’t have articles. In English, there is a big difference between “bell of metal” and “bell of the metal”. The former sounds natural and fits the Klingon meaning far better. The latter places more significance on the metal than the bell.

Bell of metal.
The bell of metal.
Bell of the metal.
The bell of the metal.

The first means a metal bell. The second suggests a specific metal bell. The third suggest any bell, so long as it’s made of the specific metal that context has apparently explained. Stainless steel? Brass? Bronze?

The forth speaks of some specific bell made of the specific metal.

These shades of meaning would require a bit more verbal effort to differentiate, if you wanted to speak of something other than a generic metal bell, which, I guess differentiates it from a glass or other ceramic bell. Wood doesn’t ring all that effectively. Stone bells are challenging to manufacture. Mud bells aren’t very durable. Cloth bells are not very loud.

pItlh

charghwI’ ‘utlh
(ghaH, ghaH, -Daj)




> On Jan 28, 2024, at 2:55 AM, Lieven L. Litaer via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol at lists.kli.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello -
> has it anywhere ever been explained, how words like {baS 'In} work
> grammtically ? Is it a classic noun-noun-construction as in chapter 3.4
> of TKD? If so, what would be a literal translation, I mean more literal
> than "metal bell" - would you read it as "a bell made of metal"? It is a
> genitive contruction? It can't be the "bell of the metal", can it?
> 
> --
> Lieven L. Litaer
> aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany"
> http://www.tlhInganHol.com
> http://klingon.wiki/En/AliceInWonderland
> _______________________________________________
> tlhIngan-Hol mailing list
> tlhIngan-Hol at lists.kli.org
> http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org

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