tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 23 08:46:16 2005

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Re: Klingon WOTD: tam (verb)

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, November 23, 2005.
>
>Klingon word:   tam
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     exchange, substitute

Used in canon:

   boq lucherDI' tlhIngan wo' romuluS Hov wo' je So'wI' cham Suqpu'
   tlhIngan wo'. chaq tampu'. chaq romuluSnganpu'vaD pIvghor cham
   lunobpu' tlhInganpu'.
   Cloaking technology was gained through an alliance with the Romulan
   Star Empire, possibly in exchange for Warp Drive technology. S33

Discussed:

   By the same token, literally translating a sentence such as "The
   restaurant changed hands" into Klingon, presumably as {ghopDu' choHpu'
   Qe'} ("The restaurant has altered hands") or perhaps {ghopDu' tampu'
   Qe'} ("The restaurant has exchanged hands"), does not tell the Klingon
   that the restaurant is now under new ownership, which is what the
   Federation Standard phrase really means. (KGT 106-7)

Related verbs include {mech} "trade", {tlhong} "barter, bargain" and {nob} 
"give";  see also {choH} "alter, change".

Related nouns are {lIw} "substitute, stand-in, temporary surrogate" and 
{qa'meH} "replacement":

   The word {qa'meH} ... has become accepted as a noun in its own
   right, meaning "replacement" in the sense of something that takes
   over for or is used instead of something that is gone or that has
   been lost. It is not used for a temporary substitute or a stand-in;
   the word for that is {lIw}.  [HQ 5.1]

>Homonyms:
>     tam (verb) - be quiet

Used in canon:

   tam; Hew rur
   quiet as a statue KGT

   tam!
   "Be quiet!" (TNG "Sins of the Father")

{tamchoH}  "become quiet" (v.)

   yItamchoH
   Be quiet! (Become quiet!) TKD

   When first officer ChaqI was making disparaging comments about the
   Pakled, Gowron said, {yItamchoH!} KCD

   "{yItamchoH}," I said to ChaqI. (Gowron, KCD novel p.102)

{tammoH}  "silence" (v.)

Antonyms include {chuS} "be noisy" and {jatlh} "speak".



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






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