tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 22 07:25:55 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: na' (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: na'
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: be sure, definite, positive, certain (slang)
>Synonyms: bej
The word {na'} literally means "be salty", but its slang usage is probably
influenced by the noun suffix {-na'} ("definite"), which is used when the
speaker wants to indicate that he or she is absolutely sure about what is
being said (compare {maghwI'} "traitor", and {maghwI'na'} "definite traitor,
without a doubt a traitor"). The slang word, a verb, is used in such con-
structions as {jIna'} ("I am positive [about something I just said]"; lit-
erally, "I am salty"] and {bIna''a'} ("Are you sure?"; literally, "Are you
salty?"). These kinds of meanings may be expressed without using slang by
employing such verbs as {Honbe'} ("not doubt") or {Sovbej} ("know for
certain). See also {bej}, a slang term with similar meaning. (KGT 156-57)
>Synonyms: bej
i.e. "be sure, be definite, be positive, be certain" (slang) KGT
The verb {bej} literally means "watch", though its slang usage is probably
influenced by the verb suffix {-bej} ("certainly, undoubtedly"; compare
{voq}, "trust", and {voqbej}, "certainly trust"). It is used in such forms
as {jIbej} ("I am positive [about something I just said]"--literally, "I
watch") or {bIbej'a'?} ("Are you sure?"--literally, "Do you watch?"). Unlike
the verb {na'} ("be salty"), which has an identical slang meaning (see
below),
the verb {bej} may be used when there is an object: {HIvrup 'e' vIbej} ("I
am positive they're ready to attack"; literally, "I watch that they're ready
to attack"). The notions expressed by {bej} can be conveyed without slang
with a word such as {Honbe'} ("not doubt") or by making use of the verb
suffix
{-bej}, as in {HIvrupbej} ("They're certainly ready to attack"). (KGT 145)
Related nouns:
{DIch} "certainty"
>Homonyms:
> na' (verb) - be salty, brackish (slang)
{bIQ na'} "brackish water" KGT
Culinary notes:
Klingon food also frequently tastes {wIb} ("sour, bitter") or {na'} ("salty,
brackish"). (KGT 85)
The usual Federation Standard translations of the primary tastes ("pungent,
sour, salty") are a little deceptive. From the Klingon point of view, it is
not accurate to say that a particular food is sour; rather, it tastes and
smells sour. That is, sourness is not an intrinsic quality of the food; it
is a perception, the effect the food has upon the senses of smell and taste,
the Klingon sense of smell being particularly highly developed. Translations
such as "sour-inducing" ({Soj wIb}, "sour-inducing food"; {na' Soj}, "The
food induces saltiness") would perhaps be closer to the feeling of the
Klingon,
but they are a bit clumsy. (KGT 85-86)
When the food arrives, it should be eaten as is; nothing equivalent to a
saltshaker will be found on a Klingon dining table. (KGT 100)
Often, however, there is no {Qenvob} [ground-up, dried-up mixture for
brewing
tea]; the tea is made by simply picking thorns, leaves, petals, or seeds off
of a plant and immediately immersing them in the water. Usually brackish
water ({bIQ na'}) is best. (KGT 96)
Pun:
Natrium (chemical symbol: Na). Common salt is sodium chloride (NaCl).
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons