tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 17 03:01:00 2006
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Klingon WOTD: ret'aq (noun)
This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, April 17, 2006.
Category: Weapons/War
Klingon word: ret'aq
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: handle, hilt (of knife, [bat'leth])
Source: KGT (226 KE, 244 EK, 245 EK)
Swedish: skaft, handtag (på kniv, ~bat'leth~)
Additional Notes:
KGT p. 61: The three-bladed warrior's knife (one main blade plus two smaller blades that spring out at the base of the blade) is {Daqtagh}, sometimes rendered [d'k tahg] in the Federation. In addition to the extra blades (frequently termed {tajHommey} ["little knives"]), at the end of the knife's handle ({ret'aq}) there is a spiked pommel, called simply {moQ} ("sphere"). A "spike" is a {DuQwI'} and the small spikes on the [d'k tahg] are usually called {DuQwI''Hommey} ("little spikes").
KGT p. 80. The part of a weapon with ornamentation, such as the handle ({ret'aq}) of a knife, is usually decorated by means of carving. Even modern weaponry, such as a disruptor pistol ({nISwI' HIch}) or disruptor rifle ({nISwI' bej}), is decorated. For example, typically the head of any rivet ({veragh}) used has a raised image of some kind, often that of a Klingon warrior's head. Sometimes extra ornamentation, carved of a different material, is attached. This would typically be the case with a family crest ({tuq Degh}).
KGT p. 81. Compared to Federation Standard, Klingon terminology associated with colors is rather limited. First of all, there is no noun meaning "color." There is, however, a verb, {nguv}, which means something like "be dyed, stained, tinted," though it is seldom used except in the phrase {chay' nguv} ("How is [it] tinted?") or when suffixed with {-moH} ("cause") in the form {nguvmoH} ("dye, tint, stain"; that is, "cause to be dyed," etc.)--for example, {ret'aq nguvmoH} ("He/she stains the knife handle").
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