tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 09 14:34:50 2008
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
RE: Help with a project
ter'eS:
> My latest project is {bebDaq ba'taHbogh Supghew yachwI'},
[Okrand]:
> Each string is a {SIrgh} ... To produce music, one may either pluck
> ({pang}) or strum ({yach}, which also means "stroke" or "pet") the
> strings. The tone produced is varied by touching the string or strings
> at various points while plucking or strumming. The verb used for this,
> perhaps translatable as to "finger", is the same as the one used for
> wind instruments: {Heng}. {KGT 76]
And let's not forget {chu'} "play (a musical instrument)":
There are special words used to describe the various techniques
employed in playing specific instruments, but the general term
for "play a musical instrument" is {chu'}, which, when applied
to technologically advanced devices, including weapons, means
"activate". Indeed, out of context, {jan chu'} could mean either
"activate the device" or "play the instrument", which may be why
{QoQ jan} (musical instrument) is seldom shortened to simply
{jan}. When the context is clearly musical, a player,--that is,
one who plays a musical instrument--is a {chu'wI'}, though more
specific terminology may also be used, depending on the instrument
being played. [KGT 74]
Thus {Supghew chu'wI'} could be a "fiddle player".
ter'eS:
> Isn't a {Supghew} a kind of {HurDagh}? It's the smallest of the family,
> according to KGT, the best suited for playing on a roof.
naHQun:
>> Yes, but the first Terran counterpart to come to mind is the 'ukulele.
I'm told that a ukulele is named for the flea-like jumping movement of the player's fingers. The Hawaiian word for flea is *'uku lele* "jumping bug" -- which is the origin of the pun: {Sup} "jump" (v.) + {ghew} "bug" (n.)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons