tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 01 09:06:19 2005
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: mev (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Saturday, July 30, 2005.
>
>Klingon word: mev
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: stop, cease
As used in canon:
not mev peghmey
Secrets never cease. PK
mev!
Do not do that! PK
SSS... mev! ba'!
Do not do that! Sit! PK
mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.
"Battling on through the Eternal fight." (Anthem)
"Don't stop! {HIja'}!" she whispered, between kisses. "{MevQo'},
Pityr..." [SAREK]
Note the common pattern {bI[VERB] 'e' yImev} "Stop [VERB]ing!":
bIjatlh 'e' yImev
Shut up! (Stop speaking!)PK
bIleS 'e' yImev
Stop relaxing! Stop resting! PK
bIyev 'e' yImev
Stop breaking! Stop pausing! PK
bIDum 'e' yImev
Stop napping! PK
Sop 'e' mev
Stop eating! (clipped) PK
bIjatlh 'e' yImev. yItlhutlh!
Stop talking! Drink! TKW
{mevmoH} "cause [someone] to stop"
{mevyap} "Stop, [it is] enough!"
This expression, usually considered a single word, is used as a
command meaning "Stop! Cease!" It comes from two Klingon verbs,
{mev} ("stop, cease") and {yap} ("be enough, be sufficient"). No
doubt in the past, the locution was longer, perhaps {yImev, yap!}
("Stop! It is enough!") Actually, {yImev!} ("Stop!") is the imper-
ative form if the command is given to an individual; to tell a
group to stop, one would say {pemev!} The dropping of the imper-
ative prefix ({yI-} or {pe-}) is what would be expected in Clipped
Klingon, the abbreviated form of the language frequently used in
giving military orders or when under duress; {yap} ("be enough")
is used as if an exclamation or a single-word sentence meaning
"It is enough." The two words have been used in juxtaposition
({mev, yap}) for so long, they have come to be accepted as a
single, though grammatically peculiar, word. If the order of the
components were reversed ({yapmev}), the utterance would be
meaningless. [KGT 113]
{mevyap} and the equivalent {DIvI' Hol} phrase used in the episodes:
"Stop!" (TNG "Reunion")
"Enough!" (TNG Reunion, TNG The Chase)
{mevyap!} "That is enough!" (TNG "Sins of the Father")
"Shut up!" (DS9 "House of Quark")
"Mev'Yap, Thopok!" (DS9 "Looking for par'Mach...")
See also the verbs {bup} "quit", {baq} "terminate, discontinue" and {yev}
"pause, take a break".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons