tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 10 07:26:27 2014
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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: yan
> Klingon Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 10, 2014
>
> Klingon word: yan
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: sword
chaHvaD nIb yan wIjwI' jan je
They don't know how to distinguish a sword from a plough! (PB 142f.)
KGT 60f.: The word {'etlh} is used for sword in general, but it really means blade of any kind... Another word normally translated sword, {yan}, is more specific, referring to swords (that is, weapons with long blades) only.
KGT 19: In the Krotmag Region "a sword is often termed {yan 'etlh} (or even {'etlh yan})--literally, "sword sword".
There's a photo of Worf's portable {lat} (shrine?) with its carved doors open, containing a statuette of what appears to be Kahless holding a conventional sword (interestingly, NOT his bat'leth) on TKW 210. Also, some of the huge statues in the {Subpu' vaS} (Hall of Heroes) at Ty'Gokor were holding straight swords; there's a photo of Gowron standing in front of two such statues in KGT 98 (cf. DS9 "Apocalypse Rising").
Duras used a straight sword in his fight with Worf after the death of K'Ehleyr. (TNG "Reunion")
"The Klingon Empire has maintained a dueling tradition; they think they can beat us with swords." (Kirk, TOS "Day of the Dove")
yan wield, use or manipulate a sword KGT (v)
naH jajmeywIj betleH vIyanbe'
In my vegetable days, I did not wield a bat'leth. KGT
KGT 61: There is also the verb {yan}, which means wield or manipulate (a sword). A swordfighter, then, would be a {yanwI'}, literally a sword wielder); the word for the specific type of sword may be, but need not be, included. It is thus proper to say {betleH yanwI'} (bat'leth wielder) or {betleH yan} (He/she wields a bat'leth).
KGT 79: ... in addition to saying {betleH yan} (He/she wields a bat'leth), one could say {betleH raQ} (He/she controls a bat'leth).
KGT 59f.: There is an extensive vocabulary for the moves associated with bat'leth use. To thrust or lunge toward one's opponent, for example, is {jop}. To deflect a thrust-that is, to parry--is {way'}. To thrust either end of the bat'leth (as opposed to the long part of the blade) upward is {chaQ}. To change the approximate orientation of the weapon from horizontal to vertical is {ngol}; the reverse is {lev}. To slide the blade of one's bat'leth along the blade of the opponent's weapon is {DIj}. To twirl or rotate the bat'leth is {jIrmoH} and to toss it from one hand to the other (the same word is used whether left to right or right to left) is {baQ}.
[Presumably, these verbs may be used WRT {yanmey} and other bladed weapons. However, for wielding axes & clubs use {Qach}.]
yan 'ISletlh Yan-Isleth (MKE)
The *Yan-Isleth*, or "Brotherhood of the Sword", is an elite Klingon division charged with protecting the chancellor, whom they guard at all times; i.e. it's his personal security force. (DS9 "Apocalypse Rising")
Qang QanmeH yan 'ISletlh Damuv 'e' wIvlu'.
You are chosen to serve on the Yan-Isleth and protect the chancellor. MKE
yanoy a known {bang pong} [cf. KGT 201]
"*Tawi'Yan* is a term in Klingonese meaning 'sword-bearer'. In a Klingon wedding the *Tawi'Yan* was their equivalent of Earth's best man. Alexander Rozhenko acted as the *Tawi'Yan* in his father Worf's wedding to Jadzia Dax in 2374." (DS9 "You are Cordially Invited"; cf. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tawi'Yan)
PUN:
"[Okrand] canonized the word {yan} from Yan-Isleth "Brotherhood of the Sword" (SuSvaj at qep'a' 2006, 7/06). By coincidence, *yahn* means "edge of a sword" in Cantonese (lay'tel SIvten).
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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