tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 28 07:42:23 2006
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Re: Klingon WOTD: QumpIn (noun)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Friday, July 28, 2006.
>
>Klingon word: QumpIn
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: communications officer
"Individual aboard a space vessel in charge of internal and ship-to-ship
communications." (KLS)
"There are a number of words employed to describe the specific functions
performed by officers on a ship, but none of these is used as a title. For
example ... the communications officer is the {QumpIn}" (KGT 53)
"The word {pIn} is also found in nonslang terms referring to crew members
on a ship: {QeDpIn} (science officer), {QumpIn} (communications officer).
It is not known whether these words originated as slang and became accepted
as the regular terms or whether the use of {pIn} in the sense of 'expert,
authority' was modeled after the words {QeDpIn} and {QumpIn}. Note that for
the crew terms, in one case {pIn} follows a noun ({QeD}, 'science' thus,
{QeDpIn} is 'science boss'), but in the other, it follows what is found
elsewhere only as a verb ({Qum}, 'communicate'), suggesting that there may
have been a noun {Qum} ('communication') at some point in the past." (KGT
158-59)
As well as in the "present": The noun {Qum} is used on the Bird-of-Prey
Poster:
{Qum De'wI'} "communications computer"
{Qum patmey} "communications systems"
{Qum SeHlaw} "communications console"
And of course {QumwI'} "communicator, communications device" is the derived
noun from the verb {Qum}.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons