tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 24 11:39:42 2006
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Re: {Dun} "be great"
Shane MiQogh (?) wrote:
> > Great has a double meaning in english, assume that
> >being great has a single meaning in klingon, because the insult of great,
> >we can *CLEARLY* see where that came to mean "fat". Great means "really
> >good" which could "evolve" it's meaning to "something big" because usually
> >when it comes to land or money, alot is good, or great. And fat is pretty
> >big and massive... Technically speaking, then great might be considered a
> >pun in english...
Elizabeth:
>I'm fairly certain that the original meaning of great in English was that of
>large size, which came to mean very good through the philosophy of bigger is
>better. Tremendous went through a similar shift.
In Klingon, however, the basic meaning of {Dun} "be wonderful/great" seems
to be "excellent" (i.e. to be outstanding or worthy of admiration), not
large size per se. We have three examples in sentences:
qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
You would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy. ST5
ta'mey Dun, bommey Dun.
Great deeds, great songs. TKW
toH, SomrawDu' Dunqu'
Oh, what wonderful muscles! (ST5 DVD, "making of" feature)
Also look at Okrand's comments about the slang term {qu'} "be great, be
wonderful, be excellent, be superlative, be splendid" (literally, "be
fierce") in KGT (pp. 159-161):
The slang usage of {qu'} is currently extremely common among Klingons,
and it has pretty much displaced another slang term with the same set
of meanings ("excellent, wonderful," etc.), {Huv} (literally, "be clear,
not obstructed"), which was in vogue not all that long ago. The use of
{Huv} for "excellent" is now considered old-fashioned. This is also the
case with {nong} ("passionate"), an even older slang term for "excellent".
... Nonslang verbs expressing similar ideas are {Dun} ("be wonderful,
great"), {pov} ("be excellent")"), and, as an exclamation, {maj!}
("Good!")
Cf. also {Doj} "be impressive".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons