tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 08 08:08:34 2004

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Re: taH (was Re: mu' lo' QaQ 'oSbogh mu'tlheghmey)

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Voragh:
> >Where possible, the examples should come from canon; that way, we know
> >we're using the word correctly and not imposing our own assumptions on it.
> >A classic example of this would be trying to come up for something for
> >{taH} "be at a negative angle",

QeS lagh:
>wotvam DelmeH chaq mu'tlheghmeyvam DIlo'laH:
>
>   choghvat yItaHmoH!
>    (Lower the gangplank!)
>   tenHa'meH choghvat taH lo'
>    (He disembarks via the gangplank that is lowered/at a negative angle)
>
>latlh chovnatlhHey Sanob, 'ach lughchu' 'e' vISovbe':
>
>   letlh taHDaq yIt
>    (He walks down the stairs that are at a negative angle [or stairs 
> leading down])
>
>mu'tlheghvam boyaj'a'? lugh'a'?

mu'tlheghmeyvam vIyajchu' 'ach lugh'a' bIH?  maSovbe'.

And that's the thing:  We just don't know how {taH} works.  There are no 
known examples of the word in canon; it's merely an entry in the TKD 
glossary.  Okrand has been asked about it, but he's never given an 
answer.  Many of us have puzzled over it, but there's no consensus.  For 
example, someone (not Okrand) at qep'a' loSDIch suggested it means "be 
tilted," but there's no indication of whether Okrand approved, or was even 
present, at the time.

Your suggestion that *{taHmoH} might mean "lower (something)" isn't bad, 
but we also have the verbs {SaS} "be horizontal", {ghIr} "descend", {pum} 
"fall" - all of which might be similarly used with the causative suffix 
{-moH}.  (Also {chong} "be vertical" would work with {-Ha'}).  Then again, 
we have {pep} "raise" which, with the addition of {-Ha'}, is probably the 
least controversial alternative for "lower (something)":

   ? choghvat yIpepHa'!
     Lower the stairway/gangplank!

But these won't work in every case.  For example, the specialized verb 
{ghuS} means "lower (a spear) to a horizontal position in preparation for 
throwing" (KGT p.65).

Our sole clue about {taH} comes from a discussion by Okrand of piloting 
vocabulary in HolQeD 11.2:

   The attitude of a plane is its orientation relative to something,
   such as the {ghangwI'} "horizon." ... The attitude of an aircraft
   is often talked about in terms of angles. The word for "angle" is
   {tajvaj}. Klingon {taH} means "be at a negative angle."

Thus, it appears that {taH} has to do with the attitude of an 
aircraft.  Perhaps "be in a dive" relative to the ground, some other 
arbitrary spatial reference, or even another aircraft or ship?

BTW we also have other attitudinal vocabulary:  {yoy} "be upside down", 
{Don} "be parallel, go parallel to", {lol} "be in an attitude", {nech} "be 
lateral, move laterally".



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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