tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 14 20:08:48 2000

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Re: birds



Burt:
>> On another list someone wanted the word for bird
>> I could not find it  only the generic word for animal 

You didn't find it because there isn't one, or a word for any other type of
generic flying creature.

malqa :
> How about toQ "bird of prey"?

Note however that this is a specific species on Kronos, not a general word.
 List member Bill Willmerdinger discussed {toQ} with Marc Okrand at
BabelCon II (4/97) and reported:

"When I met Okrand at BabelCon in April, we 'purchased' him at the slave
auction. His 'official' duty was to clarify one word: {toQDuj} 'bird of
prey (type of ship)'. According to Marc, a {toQ} is an avian predator on
the Homeworld whose closest Terran analogue would be a bird of prey. When I
told him I had theorized that {toQ} might mean scout (since that's what a
BoP is) he said no, it's definitely an animal from Qo'noS ... a Klingon
avian analogous to a Terran bird of prey. {toQ} does not literally mean
bird of prey, it's merely one type of creature which exhibits
characteristics similar to that grouping of Terran birds." 

Note that Okrand was cagey about actually using the word "bird".  Instead
he fudges the issue by calling it an "avian", an "avian predator" or "one
type of creature".  Kronos might wind up not having Terran-style birds -per
se- but rather flying reptiles, flying mammals or even flying snakes and
worms!

On the analogy of {bIQDep} "fish" - i.e. "water being (nonhumanoid)" from
KGT - many have suggested using *{chalDep} for bird, but this is only an
interim fix until Maltz speaks.

Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

(BTW, we now know the word for scoutship; it's {tlharghDuj}, from the
B'rel-class BoP poster.)





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