tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 13 10:33:09 2004

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Re: Klingon WOTD: qa' (n)

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


>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Friday, February 13, 2004.
>
>Klingon word:   qa'
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition:     spirit

As used in canon (and elsewhere):

SoHDaq qeylIS qa' yInjaj!
May the spirit of Kahless live within you! PK

   "You truly have the spirit of Kahless within you!"
   (Martok to Worf, DS9 "By Inferno's Light")

ghe'torvo' narghDI' qa'pu'
when spirits escape from Gre'thor KGT

   According to mythology, when a dishonored Klingon dies, his or her
   spirit goes to a place called Gre'thor, there to remain. To speak
   of spirits escaping from Gre'thor is to speak of an impossibility.
   The phrase usually follows the statement of what it is that
   supposedly cannot happen: {jIjegh ghe'torvo' narghDI' qa'pu'} ("I
   will surrender when spirits escape from Gre'thor"). Note that the
   word for spirit, {qa'}, takes the plural suffix {-pu'}, which is
   used for beings capable of using language. Spirits do speak."
   (KGT 117)

   the plural of {Qun} ["god, supernatural being"] is {Qunpu'} since
   they are or were presumably capable of using language, which is
   what the plural suffix {-pu'} implies ... {Qunpu'} are distinct
   from {qa'pu'} "spirits" (such as the spirits of the dishonored
   dead which reside at Gre'thor).   (st.klingon 7/19/1999)

qa' wIje'meH maSuv.
We fight to enrich the spirit.
(lit. "We fight in order to feed the spirit.") TKW

HeghDI' SuvwI' nargh SuvwI' qa'
When a warrior dies, his spirit escapes. TKW

narghbe'chugh SuvwI' qa' taH may'
If the warrior's spirit has not escaped, the battle is still going on. TKW

qaSDI' nenghep, qa' patlh chu' chav tlhIngan SuvwI'
The Age of Ascension marks a new level of spiritual attainment by a Klingon 
warrior. S9

SuvwI' qa' patlh veb chavlaHmeH tlhIngan lo'chu' chaH. toDujDaj toblu'
[They] use the devices [painstiks] to inflict pain in a manner which will 
allow the Klingon to attain a higher state of spirituality as a warrior, 
proving his mettle. S32

   According to Klingon legend, when honed sharp enough [a bat'leth]
   can separate a man from his soul.  (STC:KLS)



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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