tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 20 08:36:58 2004

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Re: New vocabulary and {law'/puS} variants (HQ 13.1)

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

Jeremy wrote:
> >> {va'nuch} "heel" (n., body part)
> >>   - nIb va'nuchDu'chaj
> >>     "their heels are identical"
> >
> > I don't have HolQeD in front of me, but when I read the article, I was
> > very interested to discover that word.  However, how do you know that
> > the word refers to the heel of the foot and not the heel of a boot.  The
> > sentence above particularly struck me as a comparison of boot heels, not
> > feet.  Was there something in the article that made it clear or are you
> > just assuming that it is the body part?

-Mark:
>Remember, in Klingon body parts are a separate syntactic category.
>They have their own plural suffix, -Du', whose use in the above sentence
>indicates that va'nuch is a body part.

Mark is no doubt correct here.  I had the same question as Jeremy, until I 
looked at the article again and saw the {-Du'}.

But just to play Fek'lhr's advocate for a moment... I must point out that 
there are exceptions WRT plural suffixes when objects look like or remind 
one of body parts.  E.g.:

   The smaller {nevDagh} [a type of pot] is characterized by its V-shaped
   handles, termed {DeSqIvDu'} ("elbows"; note the {-Du'}, the plural
   suffix for body parts is used here even though the handles are not
   literally body parts). (KGT 97)

   Grammatically, even as slang, {Ho'} ["idol, someone worthy of emulation,
   something deserving of respect"] follows the rules appropriate to its
   literal meaning. Thus, even though it may refer to a person, its plural
   is {Ho'Du'} ("teeth"), making use of the plural suffix for body parts
   ({-Du'}), not {Ho'pu'}, with {-pu'}, the plural suffix for beings capable
   of using language. (KGT 152)

So it's just conceivable that boots {DaSmey} and shoes {waqmey} may well 
have *{va'nuchDu'} "heels", *{bemDu'} "soles" or *{yaDDu'} "toes" - at 
least colloquially.  Unfortunately for us, Maltz is a science officer and 
not a shoe maker, so we'll have to wait until Okrand finds a Klingon 
cobbler to interview.  In the meantime, as aliens we should use the {-mey} 
suffix when referring to our footwear.

P.S.:  Another example might be the serrated blade {Ho' 'etlh} (lit. "tooth 
blade") of the {qutluch} knife (KGT 61f).  Do Klingons refer to these 
serrations ("teeth") as {Ho'Du'}, {Ho'mey} or both?



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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