tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 27 09:06:54 2008
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Re: Klingon WOTD: Hegh (noun)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Thursday, March 27, 2008.
>
>Klingon word: Hegh
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: death
Used in canon:
QamvIS Hegh qaq law' torvIS yIn qaq puS
Better to die on our feet than live on our knees. ST6
"Dying while standing is preferable to living while kneeling." TKW
Hegh neH chav qoH
A fool's only achievement is death. TKW
Heghlu'DI' mobbe'lu'chugh QaQqu' Hegh wanI'
Death is an experience best shared. TKW
Related nouns:
{HoH} killing
>Homonyms:
> Hegh (verb) - die
Related verbs:
{HeghmoH} be fatal; {HoH} kill; {muH} execute, put to death; {chot} murder
Cultural notes:
KGT 49: the verb suffix {-chu'} (perfectly), when used with some verbs of
fighting, implies that the fight results in death. From the Klingon point
of view, {Suvchu'} ("fight perfectly") is "fight to the death" ... The
archaic Klingon phrase {ghIqtal} also means "to the death", though it is
generally used as a sentence in its own right, a type of exclamation.
KGT 42: in an archaic form of Klingon, {ru'} meant something like "ready
to collapse or die". It was used to describe weakened prey or a weakened
enemy, but it was also applied to food (particularly fresh organs) meant to
be eaten while still alive or just recently so, the implication being that
if it were not eaten quickly, it would soon be no good. Upper-class
Klingons still use the word in this latter sense, referring, for example to
{qagh ru'} ("serpent worms about to die").
KGT 163: The word {Qop} ... is also used to mean "be dead", but only in
reference to an animal that one was expecting to eat live. If a bowl of
dead {qagh} (gagh, serpent worms) is placed before a Klingon, the
disappointed diner will probably criticize the cook for preparing {qagh
Qop} ("dead gagh"). The normal way to say "be dead", referring to a person
or animal, is by using the form {Heghpu'} ("has died"): {Heghpu' SuvwI'}
("The warrior has died"). It is not appropriate to say {SuvwI' Qop} ("dead
warrior, worn-out warrior").
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons