tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 26 10:58:16 2010
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RE: House Titles
Soqra'tIS:
> >> How would one compose a "House" title?
> >> Want to say "Leader of the mighty house of Raith" or something
> >> similar even just house of Raith
> >> <tuq'a' Raith, joH> ??
> >> <joH tuq'a' Raith> ??
Voragh:
>> There is no word for "be mighty", but you could say {tuq Dun}
>> "wonderful/great house" or {tuq Hos} "strong house".
lay'tel SIvten:
>Instead of "mighty" one could use {HoSghaj} (powerful), qar'a'?
KGT 5: Some houses (that is, lineages) are more wealthy and powerful than others.
I've never really liked the strangely-formed quality {HoSghaj} "be powerful" but looking at how Okrand has used it it does seem the right word:
HoSghajqu'
Too potent! CK (i.e. Romulan Ale)
Also mentioned in CK in the section on expressing opinions of Klingon sites.
vay' DaghIjlaHchugh bIHoSghaj
Fear is power.
TKW 109: The meaning of this saying, of course, is that one who has the ability to instill fear can exert control over those who are afraid; there is more to power than physical force.
KGT 129: ... for a Klingon, a hammer is a symbol of power. The phrase {HoSghaj; mupwI' rur} ("powerful as a hammer") is based on this notion.
Yet another option is {qu'} "be great, be wonderful, be excellent, be superlative, be splendid (slang)" from KGT (p.159-161):
The verb {qu'} literally means "be fierce". In its slang sense, it may be used adjectivally, as in {taj qu'} ("excellent knife"; literally, "fierce knife"), or as the main verb in a sentence, as in {qu' taj} ("the knife is excellent"; literally, "the knife is fierce"). Though, from the Klingon point of view, equating being fierce with being great, wonderful, and so on seems quite natural, the slang meaning of {qu'} probably receives further support because it sounds just like the verb suffix {-qu'} [...] When applied to people or animals, it is not always clear whether the slang or nonslang meaning of {qu'} is intended. That is, {SuvwI' qu'} ("fierce warrior") could be interpreted literally, or it could mean "excellent warrior". When applied to anything other than people or animals, the slang meaning is more likely. Thus, {may' qu'} ("fierce battle") is really a way of saying "excellent battle". In Klingon, only a participant in a battle, not the battle itself, can literally be described as fierce. [...] Nonslang verbs expressing similar ideas are {Dun} ("be wonderful, great"), {pov} ("be excellent"), and, as an exclamation, {maj!} ("Good!").
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons