tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 04 13:54:53 2002
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: QongDaq (n)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, September 3, 2002.
>
>Klingon word: QongDaq
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: bed
>
>Additional Notes:
> >From CK, verified in TKW p.40. Also in KGT.
As used in canon:
letqu' QongDaq.
The bed is very hard. CK
"Since Klingons are accommodating of foreigners, guest rooms in hotels do
come equipped with a bed but that it's most often made of the same material
as the floor." (CK)
QongDaqDaq Qotbe' tlhInganpu'
Klingons do not lie in bed. TKW
In response to a question on the much-discussed etymology of {QongDaq},
Okrand commented on startrek.klingon (June 1997) that:
{QongDaq} "could be a normal compound noun"--but the important word
there is "could": It could be a compound noun IF both {Qong} and {Daq}
are nouns. We know that {Daq} "place" is a noun; we know that {Qong}
is a verb ("sleep"); we don't know that {Qong} (presumably "sleep" or
"sleeping") is a noun. Maybe it is--but until we see it as a noun in
its own right (that is, in a place in a sentence where nouns occur and
in a construction where it's not attached to {Daq}) will we know for
sure. Until that time, it's a good hypothesis, but not a done deal...
a word like {QongDaq} is evidence that at an earlier stage in the
language, there may have been a noun {Qong} (meaning "sleep" or
something similar). Or maybe there was a verb suffix {-Daq} meaning
"place where one does X". On the other hand, you may have uncovered
evidence that there is currently a noun {Qong}--it just hasn't been
attested anywhere else yet, so we should keep our eyes peeled. But
without further evidence, it's a guess.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons