[756] in tlhIngan-Hol
pongwI'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed May 5 13:08:53 1993
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Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: SPEERS@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Wed, 5 May 1993 10:41 EDT
X-Vms-To: IN%"tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us"
Holtej marqem,
It's not that unusual to take the name of a profession as a
proper name. Mr. Smith, Porter, Baker, Fisher, Carpenter, etc.
A historical trend, you say? Well, yes, we don't see many (that
is, _any_) people claiming to be a Mr. Brain Surgeon, but that
doesn't deny the fact that it occurs (or did occur).
English, you say? Okay, let's look at Klingon.
qor Kor scavenge (v)
qeng Kang carry (v)
matlh Matlz be loyal (v)
Qugh Kruge disaster (n)
Qas Kras troops (n)
Qel Krell doctor (n)
You could claim that when Klingons use these as names, they are
thinking of the name, for example Kruge, and not the meaning,
'disaster.' But, you would have a hard time convincing me that
that is the case with the last one, 'doctor,' which (in my mind)
doesn't seem that different than 'linguist.' Do you think other
Klingon doctors complain when they see a 'Doctor Qel' in the
yellow pages? And, that doesn't mean that other doctors can't
use 'Qel' as a title, like Krankor uses rank.
And, I didn't hear you complain about 'nachHegh.' Many people
may think themselves 'deadheads.' If you're forehead gets tense
over 'Holtej,' then shouldn't it also over 'nachHegh'? Oh, it's
not a profession, you say. Then I'll just call myself 'Qel
Holtej,' which is both right and wrong. I'm not a doctor (yet,
in the sense of Ph.D.), but 'Qel' is a name.
d'Armond
(and don't even _think_ of trying to render my first name into
Klingon. It's hard enough to get Terrans to spell it with a
lower-case 'd,' and I'm not about to fight with a Klingon about it.)
