tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 03 13:46:22 2006
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Re: Klingon WOTD: bolwI' (noun)
> > This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, May 3, 2006.
> >
> > Klingon word: bolwI'
> > Part of Speech: noun
> > Definition: traitor (slang)
Explained in KGT (p.147):
This word actually means "drooler"--that is, one "who drools".
The nonslang word meaning "traitor" is {maghwI'} (literally,
"one who betrays"). Probably because of the parallel formation
of {bolwI'} and {maghwI'} (that is, verb plus {-wI'}), the
verb {bol} ("drool") is sometimes used to mean "betray", as if
it were equivalent to {magh}. In this usage, {bol}, like {magh},
may take an object; that is, the sentence may indicate who is
betrayed: {mumaghpu'} ("He/she has betrayed me") or {mubolpu'}
("He/she has betrayed me"; literally, "He/she has drooled me").
In its nonslang sense, {bol} does not take an object: {bolpu'}
("He/she has drooled")." (KGT 147)
Cf. also the verb {'ur} "commit treason". The derived noun is {'urwI'}
"traitor", and the abstract noun is {'urmang} "treason". We're not sure of
the difference between {maghwI'} and {'urwI'}, except that the first is
derived from {magh} "betray" which is the only one for which we have examples:
<numagh>
[They betray us.?] ST6 (untranslated)
ngoQvam luchavmeH ghawran maghpu' be'nI'pu'
To this end, the sisters have acted against Gowron... in order
to gain power. S26
mumaghpu'
He/she has betrayed me. KGT
This may mean that {magh} and {bol} are more personal, while {'ur} is
reserved for higher-level government treason. But without examples of the
latter, we can't know.
More about {bol} "drool":
If {tlhepQe'} "saliva} is produced, one is said to {tIl}
"salivate". If the {tlhepQe'} involuntarily escapes one's lips
and dribbles down one's chin, one is said to {bol} "drool".
(HolQeD 12.4:8)
Cf. also the verb {tlhIS} "spit out".
PUN ALERT:
During the US Civil War southerners working for the Union against the
Confederacy were called "boll weevils"--an insect which destroys cotton
crops by burrowing into the cotton bloom (known as a "boll"), ruining the
plant from the inside.
Andrey asks:
>Is there a way to hear these words pronounced? [....]
>Especially this one. I can't tell the difference and I don't know if
>this words uses "i"(capital) or "l" and how I should pronounce it.
It's /BOL-WI'/ with an "L". No Klingon word or syllable ends in two vowels
(e.g. /OI/). Although several end in /OY/, "Y" is always a consonant in
Klingon. Even if you didn't know the verb {bol}, you could remove the
suffix {-wI'} "one who is [VERB], one who does [VERB], thing which does
[VERB]" off {bolwI'} and know it means "one who [BOL]s". The default
pattern for three-letter verbs is CONSONANT-VOWEL-CONSONANT, so this also
tells you {bol} must end in the consonant "L".
> > Swedish: förrädare (slang)
>
>By the way what is the Swedish definition there for?
I don't know, but I'd guess Holtej is using definitions from the Klingonska
Akademien at
<http://www.klingonska.org/piqadpic.html>http://www.klingonska.org/
They have several useful projects in both English and Swedish. It's a good
site to bookmark.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons