tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 14 13:29:48 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: naQHom (noun)
At 05:00 AM Monday 11/12/2007, you wrote:
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, November 12, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: naQHom
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: stick (used to strike percussion instrument)
>
>Additional Notes:
>KGT p. 74. There are a great many Klingon percussion instruments--that
>is, instruments that make a sound as a result of something striking
>something else. Klingons seem to enjoy playing the percussion instruments
>more than instruments of other types. Among these are various drums and
>bells. The general term for a percussion instrument of any kind is
>{'In}. Some types of {'In} are struck with the hand, either palm ({toch})
>or fist ({ro'}), depending on the particular instrument. To hit the
>instrument with the palm is {weq}; to strike it with the fist is
>{tlhaw'}. Other members of this group of instruments are hit with a stick
>of some kind. The stick often resembles a small hammer; when it does, it
>is termed {muqwI'Hom} (literally, "small striker"). A plain stick is a
>{naQHom} (literally, "small cane" or "small staff"). To strike the
>instrument with a stick is to {moq} ("beat") the instrument. The {'In}
>itself may be made entirely of metal (in which case it might be described
>as a bell, though in Klingon it is simply termed {baS 'In}, or "metal
>{'In}") or entirely of wood ({Sor Hap 'In}, "wood {'In}"). One kind of
>{Sor Hap 'In} is a tube, open on both ends, with a longitudinal slit
>extending not quite to either end. It is hit with a {muqwI'Hom}. Drums
>made of animal skin stretched over a cylinder of various materials are
>found but are not as common as other types of percussion
>instruments. Such a drum is called a {DIr 'In} (literally, "skin
>{'In}"). A {DIr 'In} usually has the skin stretched only over one end. A
>type of drum with skin stretched over both ends is called a {'o'lav}.
KGT p. 69:
When the parties [to a duel] are ready, a third party, sort of a referee,
says {moq}, the signal to begin. The verb {moq} literally means "beat" and
it is a clipped form of, perhaps, {vImoq} ("I beat it") or even {vImoqpu'}
("I have beaten it"). In times past, one would hit something (such as a
drum) with a stick to indicated the start of the duel; today, one simply
says the word "beat".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons