tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 03 14:29:24 2006
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Re: Klingon WOTD: laQ (verb)
ghunchu'wI':
> > chuyDaH yIlaQ
> > Fire the thrusters! (TKD)
>
>Note {yI-} indicating {chuyDaH} is singular.
Probably meaning in this case: Fire all of them!
> > muDDaq 'eDSeHcha lulaQlu'bogh: jav
> > Atmospheric Take-Off/Landing Thrusters 6 (KBoP)
>
>Note {lu-} indicating {'eDSeHcha} is plural.
>It looks like when inherent plurals are explicitly counted, they
>become grammatically plural.
Nice catch. Hmm... does this refer to six separate thrusters or six
clusters of thrusters on the poster? If the latter, {lu-} makes some sense
here. {'eDSeHcha} are probably viewed as similar to {lolSeHcha}
"attitude-control thrusters" about which Qob once commented:
These would be the small cross-shaped rocket packs one sees on
the sides of the Apollo series Service Module, or the clusters
of rockets in the nose and on either side of the tail of the
Space Shuttle. (They are also the small square openings in four
spots around the saucer of the Enterprise-A which are surrounded
by orange paint.)
Okrand pointed out that the final element appears to be the inherently
plural {cha}:
If the final element, {cha}, is, in fact, {cha} "torpedoes", this
may shed some light on early versions of the device. On the other
hand, something else may be going on here; maybe {lolSeHcha} is
shortened from a longer construction. Maltz didn't know the answer,
but he said it was an interesting question. [HQ 11.2:8-9]
A single thruster is a {vIj}, which has never been used in canon AFAIK. I
wonder... does it refer to one of any type of thruster, or only a specific
or general type of thruster (e.g. one of the {chuyDaH})?
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons