tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 17 12:52:23 2003
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Re: Names of digits
taD:
> > For the pinky, I just remember that it's the finger used to point at
> > someone who you think is old. If you already know the word {qan} "be old",
> > then you should be able to remember that the pinky is the {qanwI'}.
lay'tel SIvten:
>really? i've never heard of that before.
It comes from Okrand's article in HolQeD 10.2 where he gave us the names of
and verbs relating to the fingers and toes. The verb {qan} means to "use
the pinky (little finger)", and to point your pinky at someone is to
comment that you believe they are old {qan}.
Other cultural bits from that article are:
The verbs {nan} "use the fourth toe" and {nan} "gouge" are probably
etymologically
related, since {nan} is used to refer to a particularly effective
martial arts kick."
the idiomatic expression {'oy'qu' Qay'wI'wIj}, literally "my little toe
aches a lot"
... means "I'm extremely angry."
All of the finger verbs are used to describe fingering the various
{qungmey} "holes in a musical instrument". (This is to change pitch in a
wind instrument, apparently not a soundhole for stringed instruments.)
taD:
> > I don't have a good mnemonic for the thumb {Sen}/{rIl}. Maybe think of
> > Arthur Fon{Sen}{rIl}li from the tv show "Happy Days" giving a 2-thumbs
> > up sign and saying {'ey!}.
Quvar:
>> To remember the "thumb-word", I remember the idiomatic phrase for
"everybody"
>> {SenwI' rIlwI' je} like this, you can remember two thing at once :-)
For those trying to figure out the pun - and I'm still one of them - here's
what we know:
{rIl} "use the thumb" (v.) and {rIlwI'} "thumb" (n.) are "most commonly
used" in reference to children.
{Sen} "use the thumb" (v.) and {SenwI'} "thumb" (n.) are "most commonly
used" in reference to adults.
In the same article, Okrand also introduced {rIl} "play (a wind
instrument)", which he explained as being a brass technique, not a flute
technique, and most typically used with {gheb} "horn (musical instrument)"
as its object.
Is there some horn technique that involves thumbing {rIl} a hole?
--
Voragh "Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon
- that's
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons hard!" (Montgomery
Scott, STIV)