tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Sep 18 09:44:29 2003

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Re: Klingon WOTD: nuH (n)

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

At 05:00 AM Thursday 9/18/2003, you wrote:
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Thursday, September 18, 2003.
>
>Klingon word:   nuH
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition:     possibility
>
>Additional Notes: KGT.

Explained in KGT (pp. 108-110):

              {Hoch nuH qel}  ("consider every weapon")

   This is an idiom cloaked in the terminology of the military that has a
   wider application. It is used to mean "Consider every possibility" or
   "Consider every option," with the word {nuH} ("weapon") standing
   metaphorically for "possibility." ... It is not a set phrase, so it
   is heard in various forms, such as a command ({Hoch nuH yIqel!} --
   literally, "Consider every weapon!" but meaning "Consider every
   possibility!"), question ({Hoch nuH Daqel'a'?} ["Did you consider every
   weapon?"]), or statement ({Hoch nuH wIqelpu'} ["We've considered every
   weapon"]), and it can be negated ({Hoch nuH qelbe'} ["He/she does not
   consider every weapon"]). The regular word for "possibility" is {DuH},
   and, grammatically, there is no reason it could not occur instead of
   {nuH} in these sentences ({Hoch DuH yIqel} ["Consider every possibility!"]
   is a perfectly well formed sentence), but this is simply not the normal
   way to express the advice. The use of {nuH} ("weapon") for {DuH}
   ("possibility") may have been influenced by the Krotmag dialect
   pronunciation of {DuH} as something very close to {nuH} (see "The Fiction
   of Klingon Conformity", under "Pronunciation," pages 18-23).



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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