tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 27 09:26:08 2009

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RE: "She Grows (Medicinal) Herbs"

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) 

   Hergh tI wIj be'
   "the woman farms medicinal plants/vegetation"
FYI there's a general overview of agricultural/gardening terms in KGT:

KGT 89:  Agriculture ({Satlh}) is practiced to a certain extent, though it is common to gather uncultivated plants as well. Fruit or vegetables that come from a farm ({Du'}) are called either {naH} alone or {Du' naH} ("farm fruit or vegetable" or "produce"); the wild variety is termed {naH tlhab} (literally, "free fruit or vegetable"). The verb {yob} (harvest) is used to refer to gathering up plants or plant parts, whether from a field ({yotlh}) that has been sown or out in the wild. The verb meaning "farm" is {wIj}; that meaning "plant" (referring to vegetation of any kind) is {poch}. One may say {Sor poch} (He/she plants a tree), {lav poch} (He/she plants a shrub), and even {naH poch} (He/she plants fruit or vegetables), referring to the ultimate use of the plant as a food source.


Fiat Knox:
>I'm wondering if there's a term for "herb," as in a plant with a
>practical function, in this case medicine and healing.

AFAIK there is no such word.  You may be stuck with the general noun {tI} "vegetation" (which I use for "flora, plants, plant life, etc").  AFAIK it's never been used in a sentence, so we don't know if it is strictly a mass noun or if it can take a plural:  {tImey}??  *{tIHom} might work for smallish, weed-like, unimportant-looking vegetation.

Since you ingest them, charghwI' would probably suggest {naH} "fruit or vegetable":

  I have come to accept that if you eat it, it is {naH}. If it
  is a plant and you don't eat it, it is {tI}. Perhaps {tI}
  includes {naH} as a subset. (charghwI', [date unknown])

The closest herb-related nouns I could find were {Qenvob} "ground-up, dried-up mixture for brewing tea" and {ngat} "herbed granulated cartilage":

KGT 89f.:  if [the meat] is fresh, the 'cook' may {pID} it, which involves coating it with herbed granulated cartilage (not necessarily from the same animal) mixed with some kind of {tIr} (grain) and doing very little else. The name of the granulated cartilage is {ngat}, which has also come to mean gunpowder. 

KGT 96:  The word {Dargh} 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.
 
>The context is that I want to describe a woman who grows medicinal herbs.
>I'd like the term to be scalable - she could as easily be running a herb
>farm as just growing them out of small pots in her back yard.

We know that Klingons use herbs in cooking:

KGT 87:  the worms are poured into a bowl filled with the {ghevI'} (sauce), which contains, among other ingredients, pellets of an extremely flavorful herb that the hungry worms quickly ingest, even though it is toxic to them and kills them within minutes. 

Another option is to describe what the herb is or looks like:  i.e. {tIr} grain, {Sor} tree, {lav} bush, 'oQqar  root/tuber, {por} leaf (of plant), {naHjej} thistle, etc.  We do know that leaves and thistles are also used in cooking:

KGT 94:  Experienced cooks will {mIQ} (fry) the {DIghna' por} (digna leaf), though this is risky, since if the leaf is heated for too long, it will wilt. 

KGT 96:  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.


>A term for "hallucinogenic" would also come in useful [...]

This one's a bit easier.  How about:

*{najmoHmeH Hergh}  "medicine for dreaming" = hallucinogen?
*{vulmoHmeH Hergh}  "medicine for causing unconsciousness" = 
                     anaesthesia, sedative? 
*{QongmoHmeH Hergh} "medicine for sleeping" = sedative?

> although I'd be happy to use some term deriving from "thing that
> makes one dream."

Strictly speaking, that would be a {najmoHwI'} which generally means "lullaby":

KGT 77f.:  Among the songs sung exclusively to or by children is the {najmoHwI'} (literally, "one that causes one to dream"), or lullaby [...]

but wouldn't "lullaby" make a great slang term for knockout drops, mickey finn, etc.?  E.g.

  'avwI' 'Iw HIqDaq <<najmoHwI'>> lanpu' romuluSngan Duy.
  The Romulan agent slipped a "lullaby" in the guard's bloodwine. 


--
VoraghÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ 
Canon Master of the Klingons

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