tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Oct 09 08:39:48 2007
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: tay (noun)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Sunday, October 7, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: tay
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: ceremony, rite, ritual
While the conventional phrases used in some rituals are uttered in
modern Klingon (such as those used in the Rite of Ascension, a ceremony
symbolizing a young Klingon's attainment of a certain spiritual level),
those used in a great many others are in a form of {no' Hol} (such as
those associated with the {bIreqtal} [brek'tal], the ceremony in which
the killer of the leader of a Klingon house marries the widow and thereby
becomes the head of the house himself). In these cases, the phrases must
be studied and memorized by the participants, then repeated back accurately.
Improvising or paraphrasing is entirely inappropriate. Depending on when
the phrases for the ritual originated, the words and grammatical construc-
tions may be somewhat like or very different from those of modern Klingon.
(KGT 11)
Younger Klingons, while accepting their heritage and observing the ancient
rites, see some aspects of their elders' behavior and beliefs as, if not
obsolete, then just old-fashioned. (KGT 133)
There's a whole section on Klingon rituals and ceremonies at
<http://www.startrek.com/library/klingon_databanks.asp?DockingBay=rituals>http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/documentaries/article/3854.html]
Related nouns:
{chontay} ritual hunt; {Heghtay} Death Ritual; {muvtay} initiation;
{nentay} Rite of Ascension; {qutluch tay} Kut'luch Ceremony; {ruStay}
R'uustai, bonding ritual
{tayqeq} "civilization"
Apparently while our definition of maturity is cities ("CIVilization"),
theirs is ritual (nentay, Heghtay, muvtay). (Qov)
>Homonyms:
> tay (verb) - be civilized
Related verbs:
{lop} "observe, celebrate (a ritual)"; {SeQ} "be formal, ritualistic,
ceremonial"
Cf. also {taymoH} "civilize"; {Hach} "be developed (e.g. a civilization)";
{'Itlh} "be advanced, highly developed"; ant. {lutlh} "be primitive"
N.B. the verb {tay'} "be together, be united" may be related to {tay} "be
civilized".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons