tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 16 19:29:19 1998
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Re: Doubts in some words
Edy wants clarification on some apparent synonyms. I'll state what I
understand these words to mean:
>'oy' - be sore /// rIQ - be injured
{'oy'} experience pain
{rIQ} have a damaged body part
>rIgh - be lame /// Duy' - be defective
{rIgh} walk with a limp
{Duy'} fail to function as designed
>jum - be odd /// Huj - be strange
There doesn't seem to be much difference between these. I'd use {jum} when
something doesn't seem quite right, and I'd use {Huj} to imply a stronger
sense of weirdness but where the word {taQ} is a little *too* strong.
>ngoj - be restless /// boH - be impatient
{ngoj} not be able to stay still
{boH} wait intensely for something to happen
>non - be rotten /// Doy - be tired
These aren't at all similar in English.
{non} have decayed or become putrid
{Doy'} need rest
>yon - be satisfied /// puQ - be fed up
{yon} have gotten sufficent food, information, etc.
{puQ} have reached the threshhold of tolerance before getting angry
>mIgh - be evil /// joch - be harmful /// naS - be vicious
{mIgh} consistently act in a fashion that is bad to the world in general
{joch} act in a fashion that is detrimental to something or someone
{naS} act extraordinarily nasty toward someone
>Hab - be smooth /// tun - be soft
{Hab} have no wrinkles or scratches on the surface, like polished marble
{tun} yield to the touch, like a fluffy pillow
>nIt - be pure, not corrupted -> could mean virgin too?
Perhaps. Maybe {watlh} would work as well. Or maybe they put too much
emphasis on the cultural concept of "chasteness" equating with "purity".
>jej - be sharp -> refers to blades in general?
It can refer to blades or to anything capable of having an edge that can
cut. I've also seen it used figuratively to refer to someone's tongue. :-)
>yatlh - be pregnant -> refering only to beings or it can be apply
> to anything else (prolific, abounding, important, etc)?
I probably wouldn't use it to refer to anything except the mammalian trait
of incubating offspring within the mother's body.
>and finally (for instance), could you give me an example
>of the use of this word:
>
>tlher - be lumpy
The word was introduced in the context of food textures (KGT p.84). Think
of poorly mixed gravy or incompletely mashed potatoes?
{tlher ghevI'. ghuplu'pa' yIvnISlu'.}
-- ghunchu'wI'