tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 22 10:38:36 2005
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Re: Klingon WOTD: nargh (verb)
At 06:00 AM Monday 11/21/2005, you wrote:
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, November 21, 2005.
>
>Klingon word: nargh
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: escape
jInargh
I escape. KLS
narghta'
[They have] Escaped. ST6
taj DopmeyDaq nargh cha' tajHom
Two small, secondary blades eject from the knife's sides SP2
narghbe'chugh SuvwI' qa' taH may'
If the warrior's spirit has not escaped, the battle is still going on. TKW
HeghDI' SuvwI' nargh SuvwI' qa'
When a warrior dies, his spirit escapes. TKW
'avwI' nejDI' narghta'bogh qama' reH 'avwI' Sambej
When an escaped prisoner looks for a guard, he always finds one. TKW
ghe'torvo' narghDI' qa'pu'
when spirits escape from Gre'thor
According to mythology, when a dishonored Klingon dies, his or her
spirit goes to a place called Gre'thor, there to remain. To speak of
spirits escaping from Gre'thor is to speak of an impossibility. The
phrase usually follows the statement of what it is that supposedly
cannot happen:
jIjegh ghe'torvo' narghDI' qa'pu'
"I will surrender when spirits escape from Gre'thor". (KGT 117)
In Klingon, opportunities are captured [{jon}], not taken; a missed
opportunity is said to have escaped [{nargh}]. (TKW 51)
I'd probably take an idiomatic approach incorporating the phrase
{nargh 'eb} "the opportunity escapes" ... This goes along with other
expressions such as {'eb jon} "he/she captures the opportunity" or,
more colloquially "he/she seizes the opportunity." (st.klingon 1/98):
jIpaSqu'mo' narghpu' qaSuchmeH 'eb
I was too late to visit you.
"Because I'm very late, the opportunity to visit you has escaped."
qaSuch vIneH 'ach narghpu' 'eb. jIpaSqu'.
I was too late to visit you.
"I want to visit you, but the opportunity has escaped. I am very late."
qaSuchlaHbe'. jIpaSqu' vaj narghpu' 'eb.
I was too late to visit you.
"I cannot visit you. I am very late, thus the opportunity has escaped."
Cf. also {Haw'} "flee, get out"; {mej} "leave, depart"; {qeD} "vacate} and
{tlheD} "depart".
>Homonyms:
> nargh (verb) - appear
HeghDI' SuvwI' nargh SuvwI' qa'
When a warrior dies, his spirit escapes. TKW
The verb {nargh} ... means "escape", but the same word, or a phonetically
identical one, means "appear". Thus, perhaps the Klingons are saying that
when a warrior dies, his spirit appears, whereas prior to death it was
hidden or disguised by the body. Another interpretation is that the
spirit was held prisoner by the body. Worf told Jeremy, whose mother had
been killed, "In my tradition, we do not grieve the loss of the body. We
celebrate the releasing of the spirt." [TKW 145]
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons