tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 16 09:55:47 2002

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Re: Klingon WOTD: tatlh (v)




>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, December 16, 2002.
>
>Klingon word:   tatlh
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     return (something)

Okrand discussed {tatlh} on startrek.klingon (7/99):

   A different verb, {tatlh}, is used for "return" in the sense of returning a
   library book or returning a weapon to the weapons rack. If someone were 
to say
   something like "I return the plate to the table," the appropriate verb 
would be
   {tatlh}:
      {raSDaq jengva' vItatlh}   "I return the plate to the table."
   Though not common, it is also possible to use {tatlh} with the reflexive 
suffix
   {-'egh} ("do something to oneself") to convey a meaning similar to that 
of {chegh}:
      {pa'Daq jItatlh'egh}       "I return to the room"
   ... The {tatlh'egh} form seems to suggest that the doer of the action is 
forcing
   himself/herself to do something, perhaps because it is difficult or not 
desirable.

Cf. also {nobHa'} "give back, return":

   Huch nobHa'bogh verenganpu''e' yIvoqQo'
   Don't trust Ferengi who give back money. TKW



-- 
Voragh                            "All the meaning is in the context."
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons           (Ilya Kabakov, Russian artist)



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