From: Marc Okrand MarcOkrand@msn.com
Newsgroups: msn.onstage.startrek.expert.okrand
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 1997 12:25 AM
Subject: Re: Weights and Measures


Neal neal413@email.msn.com wrote in article
01bcc14d$0a6401a0$6a492399@dtorvtwg...
Marc:

In KGT you give us some great words - Saw' (have a depth of), 'aD (have a
length of), muq (have a volume of), and ngI' (have a weight of).

So can I say *vagh 'uj vI'aD* to mean 'I am five *'uj*s tall?

I can certainly say *jav 'uj 'aD QongDaqwIj* and *cha' qelI'qam Saw'
ngengvam*. But what words do we use to indicate the volume or weight of
something?

How about area?

Qermaq


We don't know a whole lot about Klingon weights and measures, but here's a
little more information that may be helpful.

(1) The word for "have a width of" is juch.

(2) There are two words used for length: 'aD and 'ab. Both of these
can be translated "have a length of," but they are used somewhat
differently. 'aD is used in contrast with juch "have a width of" in
measuring, say, a tabletop. 'ab, on the other hand, is used for
(potentially) longish, skinnyish things (for example, spears) and also for
heights. Thus, one might say:

jav 'ujmey 'ab SuvwI' "the warrior has a length of six ujs" (about 6'10")



This might sound a little more natural as "the warrior stands six ujs" or
"the warrior is six ujs tall."



One could also say:

vagh 'ujmey vI'ab "I have a length of five ujs" (about 5'8")
or "I'm five ujs tall"



And it is, of course, acceptable to leave out the plural suffix -mey
when a number precedes the measure word, in this case 'uj":

wej 'uj 'ab naQjej "the spear has a length of three uj" (about 3'5")
or "the spear measures three uj"
or "the spear is three uj long"



(3) The verb juv "measure" refers to the action of somebody who is taking
a measurement:

naQjej vIjuv "I measure the spear"




(4) The only unit of volume I'm aware of is tlho'ren. I'm not exactly
sure how much one tlho'ren is, but it seems to be in the quart/liter
range.

(5) A common unit of weight is cheb, which is around five pounds (2.25 kg
or so).

I'll have to do some more digging to find out about area.


.