tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 16 09:36:39 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: HoH'egh (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, April 16, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: HoH'egh
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: commit suicide
Never used in canon.
Discussed by Okrand:
For example, there is an entry for "commit suicide" just in case
anyone wants to look that word up; but the Klingon equivalent is
simply {HoH'egh}, literally "kill oneself" (st.k 11/97)
Cultural notes:
Worf decided to commit suicide in the traditional Klingon manner,
the {Heghbat}. He asked Riker to help him and hand him the knife,
but Riker pointed out that, following tradition, that role belonged
to Worf's son, Alexander. (TKW 176)
Since dying in battle is considered a noble aspiration, suicide missions
are a part of the Klingon military repertoire, and the honorable nature
of such missions accounts for their nomenclature. The honorific verb
suffix {-neS}, usually used when addressing a superior, is also used when
the verb refers to a suicide attack of some kind: {HIvneS}, awkwardly
translated as "honor-attack", implies that suicide is part of the plan of
the attack. Similarly, {HubneS} ("honor-defend") is used only when suicide
is part of the defense plan. To say "attack honorably" but not refer to a
suicide mission, the adverbial {batlh} is employed and the suffix {-neS}
is not: {batlh HIv} ("attack honorably, attack in an honorable fashion").
(KGT 49)]
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons