tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 03 14:23:13 2002

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Re: po'



Voragh wrote:
: Yet another option is {po'} "expert". Considentally, {pIn} is also
: slang term for "expert, authority" according to KGT.

'ISqu'
 > Actually, KGT (p. 159) says:
 > "The nonslang term for an expert is *po'wI'* (literally, "one who is 
expert, skilled")."
 >
 > The word {po'wI'} appears only in the text. It is not listed in the 
dictionary section.

Thanks.  I've corrected my notes.

DloraH:
>Because it is simply the verb po' with the suffix -wI'; and po' is listed in
>one of the word lists.

The noun *{po'} has been floating around for a few years.  According to my 
notes, Mark Okrand once inscribed Mark Reed's copy of TKD with {tlhIngan 
Hol po'}, which I interpret as "Klingonist" (lit. "Klingon language 
expert").  I don't have any source for this, so the story may well be 
apocryphal.  This was tentative evidence for *{po'} being a homophonous 
noun with the verb {po'} "be expert, be skilled".  (I also have a similar 
note for *{pabpo'} "grammarian"  (?) as "MO's inscription in someone's 
TKD?" which may actually refer to the same unconfirmed inscription.)

Now that Okrand has used the derived noun {po'wI'} in KGT, however, I can 
mark *{po'} as unconfirmed in my notes.  If Okrand did write *{po'} when 
autographing copies of TKD, he probably mis-remembered it.  We know that 
Okrand hasn't memorized the entire vocabulary since he doesn't use Klingon 
on a daily basis, and has to look most words up in the various 
glossaries.  (Those of us who have trouble memorizing vocabulary can take 
some comfort from this!)



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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