tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 17 07:37:54 2006
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Re: molDaq lom vIlan'a'?
Quvar:
> >>Is {lom} "corpse" the right word to use for a dead body, i.e. someone
> >>who has died?
ngabwI':
> > A {lom} goes into a {mol}, just as a {ghop} goes into a {pogh}.
lay'tel SIvten:
> Well... yeah. What else could it mean?
Quvar:
> >>I just wanted to be sure not to confuse it with "corps" as in "marine
> >>corps"; and I did not want to incorrectly use {porgh} instead.
They're probably etymologically related, but corps (a body of men or
women: e.g. Marine Corps, corps du ballet, esprit du corps, etc.) is
pronounced /core/ in the French fashion, while corpse (a dead body,
cadaver) has a clearly enunciated /PS/ at the end: /core-ps/.
Note that for Klingons, a {lom} is no longer a person, but merely an "empty
shell" (TNG: "Heart of Glory"):
Thus, perhaps the Klingons are saying that when a warrior dies,
his spirit appears, whereas prior to death it was hidden or
disguised by the body. Another interpretation is that the spirit
was held prisoner by the body. Worf told Jeremy, whose mother
had been killed, "In my tradition, we do not grieve the loss of
the body. We celebrate the releasing of the spirt." (TKW 145)
so be careful which possessive suffix you use:
"When someone dies, if you are talking about the 'person' they
get {-wI'}; and of course if you are referring to the empty shell
that is left, it gets a {-wIj}." [DloraH, personal communication
with Okrand at Praxis Con, May 1998]
{porgh} is a body in the anatomical or medical sense. The KLS definition
is actually useful: "The sum of all the organs and tissues in a creature,
representing its entire physical being." Note the medical terms {porghQeD}
"the scientific study of bodily functions" (i.e. "anatomy") and {porgh
mIw}, discussed in HQ 12.4:8:
Maltz was familiar with the scientific study of bodily functions,
or {porghQeD}, but he didn't consider himself terribly well versed
in the field. The closest he could come to "bodily function" was
{porgh mIw}, literally "body process", but he had a hard time
thinking of an everyday sentence containing that phrase. He said
that Klingons don't talk all that much about bodily functions as
a group, but they certainly do talk about specific bodily functions.
And also:
{'Iw HIq} (bloodwine) is served warm to hot (best is {porgh Hat}--
body temperature, though it is not clear whose body)... [KGT 94-5]
pImlaw' romuluSngan be' porgh
I've heard Romulan women are different. (ST5 notes)
Cf. also {ro} "trunk (of body), torso":
rolIj HI'ang
Show me your torso! KGT
Ordering a Klingon to reveal his or her torso is probably not a
good idea. (KGT 195)
ngabwI':
> A {lom} goes into a {mol}, just as a {ghop} goes into a {pogh}.
I.e. {lom} is {mol} "grave" backwards, which helps you remember them both.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons