tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 13 07:46:34 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: ngagh (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, November 13, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: ngagh
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: mate with
>
>Additional Notes:
>Originally in PK, reported in HolQeD 3:2 p. 10.
Used in canon:
targhlIj yIngagh! yIruch!
Go mate with your targ! PK
Discussed by Okrand:
"Seems to me that the phrase that best fills in the blank ('I cannot be
insulted by (a) ...') is the one suggested a while back by both SuStel and
Qermaq: {yIH ngaghwI'} (I'd leave the "a" in the English: 'I cannot be
insulted by a {yIH ngaghwI'}.') If this is translated as 'one who mates
with a tribble,' perhaps it sounds too formal or clinical (in English, not
in Klingon) to function as a curse or insult. If it's translated 'tribble
mater-wither' or something like that, it has a somewhat better tone, but
it's questionable English and therefore lacks punch. But English isn't the
issue here; Klingon is, and, unless I'm missing the point, {yIH ngaghwI'}
should work. I trust that, in the story, the Federation officer who utters
the phrase is prepared for what the Klingon may do next." (st.expertforum
July 1998)
Cultural notes:
"Poetry plays a prominent role in Klingon mating behavior. The female
typically roars, throws heavy objects, and claws at her partner. The male
reads love poetry and, as Worf put it, 'ducks a lot'." (TKW 17)
Klingon males initiate courtship by biting the female. (VGR "Someone to
Watch Over Me")
When Klingon women are ready to mate they slink around like a "Hellenian
lynx" while making low growling sounds like a {chemvaH} in heat. (PK)
Literary notes:
"In TKH, the line 'Get thee to a nunnery' was translated as {ngaghQo'wI'
nawlogh yImuv}. Guido's endnotes translate it as 'squadron of the
celibate,' and further expound: 'the closest Klingon equivalent of a
monastic order, these were bands of warriors--of either gender--who
dedicated their lives to fighting, to the point of refusing to mate'."
(Holtej)
>Synonyms: nga'chuq
{nga'chuq} "sex (i.e. perform sex, always subject)"
Although the fine points are unclear, "always subject" probably means that
the parties involved collectively make up the subject of this verb: e.g.
{nga'chuq A B je} "A and B mated (had sex)".
Related verbs:
{Sep} "breed" (apparently refers to animals):
Klingons generally {Sep} (breed) small animals such as {gharghmey}
(worms). (KGT 89)
{yatlh} "be pregnant" and {bogh} "be born".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons