tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 18 07:09:17 2013
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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: mIv
> Klingon Word of the Day for Saturday, March 16, 2013
>
> Klingon word: mIv
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: helmet
Also translated as a "hat" in "Talk Now: Klingon".
Used in canon:
Du'IHchoHmoH mIvvam
This helmet suits you. TKD
mIv DaS je tuQ ra'wI'
The commander is wearing a helmet and a boot. KGT
N.B. {mIv je DaS} "helmet and boot" (idiom: fully dressed, as for a ceremonial affair):
mIv je DaS tuQ ra'wI'
The commander is in full dress uniform. (idiom) KGT
N.B. {mIvDaq pogh cha'} "display a glove on (one's) helmet" (idiom: a matter has been postponed or rescheduled):
mIvwIjDaq poghlIj vIcha'
I display your glove on my helmet KGT
(implies that the postponed matter is between the
speaker and the addressee)
KGT 58: old armor included headgear of some kind apparently called a {mIv}, which, in modern Klingon, means helmet. The word also survives in the word {mIv'a'} (crown; literally, "big helmet" or "great helmet")
KGT 108: The fact that the expression for "full dress" includes the word {mIv} helmet also suggests that the phrase has been in use for a long time, since helmets are no longer commonly part of Klingon attire.
At the preview for "Star Trek: Into Darkness" (set in the early 23rd century, i.e. pre-TOS): "Live tweeting from the event, Lesnick added that while 14 Klingons appear in the film, only two remove their helmets and have speaking roles." (http://www.treknews.net/2012/12/10/klingons-confirmed-for-star-trek-into-darkness/ ) These appear to be guards at TOS-era Rura Penthe.
KGT 27: In some regions, a {bargh} [flat-bottomed pot] made of metal is a {mIv} (which also means helmet, even though, historically speaking, helmets are not necessarily made of metal)
Language notes:
KGT 107f.: Normally, an idiom follows the rules of Klingon grammar (for example, the verb takes the prefix appropriate to the meaning intended), but occasionally, one will be grammatically aberrant. Thus, the phrase {mIv je DaS} (literally, "helmet and boot") is used to mean fully dressed, as for a ceremonial affair (as in {mIv je DaS tuQ ra'wI'} ("The commander wears helmet and boot" - that is, "The commander is in full dress uniform"). Normally, the conjunction {je} (and) would be expected to follow the second noun (here, {DaS} [boot]), but in this phrase, it does not. The grammatically correct {mIv DaS je} also means "helmet and boot", but it would not be used in the sense of full dress. The sentence {mIv DaS je tuQ ra'wI'} would mean simply "The commander is wearing a helmet and a boot" (or, since the plural need never be overtly indicated, perhaps this would mean {The commander is wearing a helmet and boots"). How the odd grammatical construction came to be is not known with certainty, but it probably is based on an older form of the language. The fact that the expression for "full dress" includes the word {mIv} helmet also suggests that the phrase has been in use for a long time, since helmets are no longer commonly part of Klingon attire. Finally, it is important to note that the idiomatic expression is always {mIv je DaS} ("helmet and boot"), never {DaS je mIv} ("boot and helmet"). As is frequently the case in idioms, the order of elements cannot be changed.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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