tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 13 13:11:44 2007
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: ghangwI' (noun)
lay'tel SIvten:
> >Is this related to {ghang}?
> >
> >NWL20030704; HQ v12n2p8; v; end prematurely (an event, voyage, battle, play,
> >opera, story, song, etc.) [The subject of this verb is the person causing an
> >event to prematurely end. The direct object is the event that is ended.]
Voragh:
>I don't think so. {ghangwI'} (HQ 11.2) was revealed prior to {ghang} (HQ
>12.2). It's generally accepted that {ghang} derives from the 1970's US
>television series "The Gong Show", many of whose dreadful amateur acts were
>ended prematurely when one of the celebrity judges struck a huge gong. I
>can't think of any relationship between the two, even as a pun.
mIq'ey:
>This is probably far-fetched, but could M.O. have been playing with the
>astronomical meaning of the word "terminator" (= "the boundary between the
>part of a moon or planet that is illuminated and the part that is dark" -
>Encarta)? Not that "terminator" and "horizon"are remotely synonymous, but
>when the sun is on the horizon and you ride off into the sunset, you are
>in fact heading toward the terminator.
And the transition is immediate? Note the meaning of {ghang} "end PREMATURELY"
>The fact that {ghangwI'} was revealed before {ghang} doesn't necessarily
>mean it existed first.
I meant that the usual way {-wI'} nouns arise - either historically or in
"real life" (i.e. from Okrand) - is that the verb "X" exists first, then a
need arises for a nomen agentis ("one who does X, thing which does X").
There are exceptions: e.g. {chamwI'} "technician" - no known verb ?{cham}
but a noun {cham} "technology}; {De'wI'} "computer" - no known verb ?{De'},
but a noun {De'} "information, data", etc. Which is not to say that there
are no verbs ?{cham} or ?{De'}, just that they aren't listed in the limited
vocabulary available to us or they haven't survived into the 23rd/24th century.
Of course, Okrand could have had a verb ?{ghang} having something to do
with horizons in his notes for quite some time. I imagine he thought up
new words and puns all the time and probably wrote some of them down for
future reference.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons