tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Dec 11 13:38:37 1997

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{-Daq} & non-physical places (revised)



: From: Neal Schermerhorn <[email protected]>
: >And can <-Daq> refer to a non-physical place, such as
: >a vocabulary list? (Adding <tetlh> in there might help that.)
: 
: Uncertain.  Generally, I would stick with strictly physical meanings, unless
: you're certain it would work in some other context and be correct.
: {tetlhDaq} *could* refer to a list which has actually been written down, in
: which case it works.  If it's just a list that exists in your head (if the
: noun covers that), {-Daq} may not work.
: 
: SuStel

I think you're probably safe in using it with {tetlh} as any list, even one
in your head, can be written down if necessary thus becoming tangible. 

BTW, Okrand has used {-Daq} with non-physical places (imaginary or
mythological):

    ghe''orDaq luSpet 'oH DaqlIj'e' 
    You belong in a black hole in the Netherworld! PK 

    yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv 
    we ... join our fathers in the Black Fleet (Anthem)

for a named conference which took place in a discrete location: i.e. a set
of rooms at a hotel:

    qep'a' wejDIchDaq jatlhtaH tlhIngan Hol HaDwI'pu'. 
     (MO's letter to SuStel on MSN BBS 11/96) 

and also in a completely metaphorical sense:

    wa' Dol nIvDaq matay'DI' maQap 
    We succeed together in a greater whole. TKW  

    'Iw bIQtIqDaq jIjaH 
    I travel the River of Blood. TKW

I'm not sure how to classify this last example. The "River of Blood"
probably originated as a reference to the River Skral (sp?) - the site where
Kahless (who else?) killed Molor - which ran red with blood, at least in
song (cf. "The Way of the Warrior"). In the {nentay}, it seems to be used as
a metaphor for the line of painstik-wielding warriors the celebrant must
pass through. It may, however, be a "real" location in the Klingon afterlife
analogous to the Terran River Styx.


Voragh



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