tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 09 06:54:59 1997

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RE: Word Origin Speculation II

Posted for Glen Proechel, director of the Interstellar Language School

***NOTE  -- This is speculation and is NOT canon

Ken Traft pointed out to me the recent posting of David Trimboli regarding the 
Klingon word <<lom>> and its apparent connection to the English "loam" and  
"lam."  He has made an important discovery in what I believe to be the 
Okrandian principles of lexicography.  <<mol>> (note similarity to English 
word "mole", an animal which likes to dig) means "to bury, or tomb."  
Reversing it gives you <<lom>> or corpse.  Going from "m" to "n" gives you 
<<nol>> the word for funeral.  It seems that Okrand has some interesting 
concepts on vocabulary development and I believe that if you understand them, 
it will make the task of improving your vocabulary a lot easier.

1)  Puns on the English words.  There are many, many examples of this.  joy' = 
torture, val = smart (valedictorian), qul = fire (cool), tIq = heart (ticker), 
pI' = fat (pig), Sut = clothing (suit), ghop = hand (grope), loD = man (lord), 
bIr = cold (brr), 'IH = beautiful (ick), tlhaq = chronometer (clock), pIn = 
boss (kingpin).

2)  Reversies.  That is, forming synonyms or antonyms by saying the words 
backwards:  megh = lunch,  ghem = midnight snack, puq = child, Qup = young, 
mol = tomb, lom = corpse, noj = lend, jon = capture, SIm = calculate, mIS = 
confusion.

3)  Shortening of the English reference.  Often the first part of the word to 
which Okrand is referring is used instead of the full form:  Dargh = tea 
(Darjeeling), val = smart (valedictorian), HI' = dictator (Hitler)

4)  Internal changes:  In some cases synonyms are created by changing the 
middle vowel:  SeS = steam, SIS = rain, SUS = wind, ghur = increase (go up), 
ghIr = decrease (go down), magh=betray, mugh = translate.

5) Some synonyms are created by varying the initial consonant, often in 
English alphabetic order:  HIjol = beam me up, HIQol = beam me down.  Qorgh = 
to care for, Sorgh = to sabotage, mol = tomb, nol = funeral.

6)  Sometimes related words share the same initial consonant.  notice the 
nature words with "ng".  ngem = forest, ngeng = lake, ngech = valley.

7)  The most widely used trick besides puns is onomatopoeia: 'argh = get 
worse, 'ugh = heavy, Hagh = laugh, 'Iw = blood, 'oy' = it hurts, yay' = 
shocked, yIQ = wet (ick), yIH = tribble.  There are many of these and they are 
easily recognizable.

8)  Because they're so much fun, here are some more puns:  HuD = mountain (Mt. 
Hood), Qut = vulgar (cute), bech = suffer (bitch), bIghHa' = prison (big 
house), chIrgh = temple (church), chIp = cut hair (chip), muD = atmosphere 
(mood), Dor = escort (show someone to the door), nuD = examine (nude), ghu = 
baby (goo), Hat = illegal (hot), HeD = retreat (head back), HeS = crime 
(Rudolf Hess, war criminal), HoS = power (horse power), Hot = touch (hot), Hu 
= zoo (Dr. Seuss', Who's in the Zoo), jab = serve food (job),  jar, DIS = 
month, year (jar, dish), jIp = penalty (gyp), lang = thin (long), lIm = panic 
(out on a limb), luj = fail (lose), mul = stubborn (mule), muv = join (to move 
from one organization to another), nIH = steal (nick).  Notice also that nIH 
means right hand, i.e., the stealing hand!  ngIp = borrow (keep), lon = 
abandon (loan), lay' = promise (lie), paw' = collide (pow!), pIp = spine (a 
pipsqueak is someone who is spineless), puQ = fed up (puke) or puq = child 
(puke, spit up).

9) There are other tricks, a little more difficult to classify, but which 
deserve mention.  The word for animal <<Ha'DIbaH>> comes from:  Let's go!  We 
shoot them!  The sex-specific words for marriage are interesting and seem to 
derive from German: <<Saw>> (for a man to marry) from German Schau = to look 
whereas <<nay>> (for a woman to marry) seems to come from German dialect nei 
as well as English nay for No!, since a woman usually says no!  The word 
<<mIr>> for chain is an interesting one because it seems to derive from Soviet 
propaganda.  Workers of the world unite!  You have nothing to lose but your 
CHAINS.  The word MIR! peace is an ever-recurring word in Soviet propaganda.

I'm sure of some of you will find this far-fetched but I doubt that it's an 
accident.

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