On 3/21/2017 1:56 PM, Jeremy Silver wrote:
I too have been having trouble finding a good way to express sand and ash and bribe for example. I think describing ground-up rock confuses people if trying to talk about sand.
Hmm. *nagh pullu'pu'bogh* is actually a pretty decent substitute for /sand./
While on the subject of sand my wish-list extends to:
beach (n)
coast/shore (n)
We already have /beach:/ *bIQ'a' HeH.* This will often work for /coast/ or /shore/ as well; the phrase *bIQ'a' HeH* doesn't show us the difference between those and /beach. /If I wanted to contrast an actual beach and some non-beach shoreline, I might struggle with describing a sandy beach shore and a non-sandy beach shore.
bay/inlet (n)
harbour (n)
port [as in spaceport, seaport] (n) - some variation of {vergh} combined with {veng} maybe?
Yes, *vergh veng* is a good substitute for a dedicated word for /port,/ and is very much the sort of word Klingons might have for it. If you wanted to refer to the actual port in a port city, as opposed to calling a port city a /port,/ you might call them the *verghmey* (cf. *mebpa'mey*/hotel/).
float [on water/in space, assuming it'll differ from {'al}] (v)
be-adrift [on water/in space] (v)
sail (n)
oar (n)
Don't know if Marc's painted himself into a corner with turning "row your boat" into "propel your ship", but a {vo'wI'} can mean a few things.
Did he translate that? I don't remember this. What is the source? I wouldn't consider that being painted into a corner. As a song, it may not have been a precise translation. Maybe the Klingon word for /row/ doesn't fit nicely in the meter.
That said, sometimes aiming for a phrase like {vo'meH patmey} if you want what you are describing to remain neutral to time and technology; like you don't want it to matter if the ship has sails, or if it's a fully kitted out Brel.
I could imagine an oar being called a *vo'meH jan raQlu'bogh*/propulsion device which one manipulates by hand./
Recently I too needed something for Skull, {nach Hom} seemed to work OK but had too many syllables at the time.
We have a word for crossing/traversing something, but I've wanted to express things crossing like in an x or + shape before now. Do we have such a construction?
Don't think so, though something about that is nagging me. I'm also thinking you might do something with *Don* and maybe *vel**,* but it's clumsy.
I'd also vote for a noun for snow as in the past using something like {chuch qutmey} seemed a bit complicated.
Consider there to be another vote for *tide (n)* here too, had to make do with something like big wave recently. Though now I think about it some way of combining {maS} and {yu'egh} might work. Can you do something like {maSmo' yu'egh}?
That would violate the rule in TKD 3.4: "When the noun-noun construction is used, only the second noun can take syntactic suffixes (Type 5)." You might go with something like *yu'egh chenmoHbogh maS*/wave which the moon forms,/ or just *maS yu'egh* /moon wave./ I don't like it. Tides aren't reeeaaallly a wave; I might look at something having to do with *bIQ'a' 'Iv*/ocean's altitude/ or something like that.
Do we have a usual way of expressing the concept of "beyond" like:
On the other side of the mountain, there is a prison kind of thing?
or Past the crossroads someone did something?
*HuD latlh Dop retlhDaq bIghHa' tu'lu'*/in the area next to the mountain's other side there is a prison./ But that doesn't cover phrases like /far over the Misty Mountains cold,/ where the thing you're talking about isn't immediately next to the other side of the mountain. You might play with something like *pa' Hop* /faraway thereabouts. /This starts to run into "sometimes inaccurate but never approximate" territory. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name