tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Sep 10 07:54:47 2007

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: Klingon WOTD: na' (verb)

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Saturday, September 8, 2007.
>
>Klingon word:   na'
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     be salty, brackish (slang)
>
>Additional Notes:
>KGT p. 85.  Klingon food also frequently tastes {wIb} ("sour, butter") or 
>{na'} ("salty, brackish").  The closest equivalent to "sweet" is probably 
>{na'ran rur} ("resembles a [naran]," a fruit whose juice is sometimes 
>added to sauces as a contrast to the other flavors.)  Interestingly, many 
>human visitors seem to really enjoy the juice of the [naran] all by 
>itself, particularly in the morning, though Klingons find this practice 
>most peculiar.  Despite the general absence of sweet foods from their 
>diet, Klingons tend to be quite enthusiastic about {yuch} ("chocolate"), 
>at least in its purest forms.

KGT p. 85-86:  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 p. 100:  When the food arrives, it should be eaten as is; nothing 
equivalent to a saltshaker will be found on a Klingon dining table.

KGT p. 96:  The word {Dargh} ["tea"] refers to the beverage only. If plants 
or animal parts are dried and, if necessary, chopped up before being 
steeped in boiling water to produce {Dargh}, this preparation is called 
{Qenvob}. Often, however, there is no {Qenvob}; 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.

Pun:

natrium (chemical symbol Na

>Homonyms:
>     na' (verb) - be sure, definite, positive, certain (slang)

Note.  This meaning is the slang extension of the regular, nonslang verb 
{na'} "be salty, brackish".

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






Back to archive top level