tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 11 08:53:54 2004

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Re: tuj luSpetmey

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

>ja'pu' De'vID:
> >For example, does a <Hov> have a <ghor>?
>
>ja' Quvar:
> >Does a STAR have a surface of a PLANET? yIQubchu'! ;-)

jang QeS lagh:
>Voragh, maybe you can save us. Has {ghor} been used in canon?

Unfortunately, {ghor} has never been used or explained by Okrand.

>jang ghunchu'wI':
> >In the definition of {ghor}, the phrase "of a planet" is in parentheses.  I
> >consider it an example of the meaning, not a restriction on what it may
> >apply to.  I think {ghor} obviously fits moons and asteroids, even though
> >they might not technically be planets.  The only problem I might have with
> >using {ghor} when discussing {Hov} is the question of exactly what a star's
> >surface *is*.

I agree with ghunchu'wI'.  {ghor} most likely is used for the surface of 
any astronomical body that one can land and walk upon.  (E.g. Last season 
in ENTERPRISE, a shuttle pod landed on the surface of a comet.)

>And do all spheres have a {ghor}, whether they're planets or not?

{ghor} is not used for these, but there are a variety of other words.  The 
most general word for an object's exterior top - i.e. it's top surface - is 
{yor} as discussed by Okrand in HolQeD 8.3:

   The word for "top" is {yor}. This refers to the top side or top face
   of an object, such as the top of a box or the top of a table or even
   the top of one's head. It is not the word used for "lid" or "cover"
   or "cap" (as in "lid of a jar") or removable (and reusable) top of a
   box. The word for this kind of "top" or "lid" or "cover" is {yuvtlhe'}.
   Similarly, {yor} is not the word for the inside of the top of something.
   If one were sitting under a table, the (presumably) flat surface above
   one is termed the {'aqroS}. There are two special terms for the top of
   a room, or "ceiling". {rav'eq} refers to the ceiling of any room (though,
   more narrowly, it refers to the ceiling of a room that has a room above
   it, as in a multistory structure); {pa' beb} refers specifically to the
   ceiling of a room which is on the top (or only) story of a structure.
   It is possible to use {'aqroS} to refer to a ceiling, through the other
   two terms are more common.

And, of course, there's a corresponding word for "bottom":

   The word for "bottom", the counterpart of {yor}, is {pIrmuS}.

Note that there are a couple of specialized words as well:

   {chaS}  top of walking cane or ceremonial cane

   {mov}  top of foot  (cf. {chap} back (of hand))

>Can we say {taj moQ ghor ghItlhlu'pu' 'ej qeylIS qab cha'} "the surface of 
>the knife's
>pommel is engraved with Kahless's face"?

No.  This is the knife's {megh'an} "end (of stick, rope, etc.)" or its 
{'er'In} "other end" - or vice versa.  These words can refer to either end 
of the rope, stick or whatever, but once you arbitrarily choose an end to 
call {megh'an}, for example, the OTHER end is called {'er'In}.  Before you 
make this initial reference, either end can be called either {'er'In} or 
{megh'an}.  Okrand writes in HQ 12.2:8:

   On the other hand, if a bridge is under construction and lies halfway
   across a river or gorge or freeway, it may be said to have a {megh'an}
   (or {'er'In}). One could, in theory, hang a sign or flag from the
   {megh'an} (or {'er'In}), but one could walk on this incomplete bridge
   only as far as the {qa'rI'}.

N.B. {qa'rI'} = "end (of corridor, tunnel, conduit, Jeffries tube, sewer, 
road, bridge, long field, etc.)"

I don't know how one would distinguish between the surface of the hilt's 
{ret'aq} ball-like pommel {moQ} and one of its spikey tips 
{DuQwI'Hom}:  e.g. its surface is polished very nicely.  Most likely you 
would just call it the {moQ} and be done with it.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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