tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 15 07:50:47 2004

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Re: Klingon WOTD: pub (v) > jIn

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

Voragh:
> > Cf. also {jIn} "brew".

lay'tel SIvten:
>What is the source of this word?  And its part of speech?

Hmmm, this seems to come from an old entry in my notes:

   I remember [Okrand] and I actually were discussing *raktajino*
   while he was working on the book [KGT], as soon as we both found
   out that it was Klingon coffee... He really hated the /-ino/
   ending, since it sounded too obviously like cappuccino, and said
   he'd have to check with Maltz about *raktaj* ... and I had the
   theory that the Klingon wasn't "raktaj" or whatever, but actually
   *raktajin* and the /-o/ was added by marketers for similarity with
   Terran brews. Why *raktajin*? Because it was brewed from {raHta'},
   making it {raHta'jIn}."  (~mark)

I had {jIn} "brew" in my notes, probably because I thought it had been 
vetted by Okrand, since he was discussing it as a possibility.  But as it 
happened, Okrand rejected this hypothesis - no doubt because {raHta'} 
*racht* is a type of large food worm served live.  While Klingons might 
enjoy a beverage made from liquefied worms, humans definitely won't and 
*raktajino* wouldn't have become one of the favorite beverages on DS9.  We 
now read in KGT (pp. 95-96) that:

   Though not native to the Empire, Klingons have developed a way to
   make coffee ({qa'vIn}) particularly strong, both in flavor and in
   its effect as a stimulant, and it is a very popular beverage. As a
   rule, coffee is consumed plain--that is, black--but some Klingons
   prefer to mix other ingredients in with the coffee. If some kind
   of {HIq} ("liquor") is added to the coffee, the drink is called
   {ra'taj}. It is said that the drink was originally nicknamed {ra'wI'
   taj} ("commander's knife," suggestive of its potency), and that the
   name was shortened over time. This often repeated story cannot be
   confirmed. In any event, {ra'taj} became one of the few Klingon
   foods to become popular outside of the Empire, though in an altered
   form. Instead of containing liquor, as does the genuine Klingon
   {ra'taj}, the "export" version (which came to be pronounced *raktaj*
   in Federation Standard) consists of strong Klingon coffee plus a
   nutlike flavoring. Eventually, a new fashion developed--adding cream
   to the *raktaj*--and with this innovation came yet another name,
   *raktajino*, modeled after the name of another popular coffee drink,
   cappuccino. *Raktajino* is now served hot or iced, with or without
   extra cream, and with or without the rind of some fruit to add even
   more flavor. Though it is sometimes called "Klingon coffee," it is
   quite different from both plain {qa'vIn} and the alcoholic {ra'taj}.

So, I will make the correction to my notes and mark *{jIn} as speculation.

Thanks for catching this.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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