tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 01 09:33:55 2005
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Re: Klingon WOTD: na' (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Sunday, January 30, 2005.
>
>Klingon word: na'
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: be sure, definite, positive, certain (slang)
>
>Synonyms: bej
>Homonyms:
> na' (verb) - be salty, brackish (slang)
As discussed in KGT:
The word {na'} literally means "be salty", but its slang
usage is probably influenced by the noun suffix {-na'}
("definite"), which is used when the speaker wants to indi-
cate that he or she is absolutely sure about what is being
said (compare {maghwI'} "traitor", and {maghwI'na'} "definite
traitor, without a doubt a traitor"). The slang word, a verb,
is used in such constructions as {jIna'} ("I am positive
[about something I just said]"; literally, "I am salty"] and
{bIna''a'} ("Are you sure?"; literally, "Are you salty?").
These kinds of meanings may be expressed without using slang
by employing such verbs as {Honbe'} ("not doubt") or {Sovbej}
("know for certain"). See also {bej}, a slang term with simi-
lar meaning. [KGT 156-57]
Unlike the verb {na'} ("be salty"), which has an identical
slang meaning (see below), the verb {bej} may be used when
there is an object: {HIvrup 'e' vIbej} ("I am positive they're
ready to attack"; literally, "I watch that they're ready to
attack"). The notions expressed by {bej} can be conveyed with-
out slang with a word such as {Honbe'} ("not doubt") or by
making use of the verb suffix {-bej}, as in {HIvrupbej}
("They're certainly ready to attack"). [KGT 145]
Cf. also the non-slang noun {DIch} "certainty".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons