[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: mum

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon Word of the Day for Sunday, September 04, 2016
> 
> Klingon word: mum
> Part of speech: verb
> Definition: taste, sense flavors 

  qagh vImum 
  I taste the *gagh*.
  ("I perceive the *gagh*'s flavor") (st.k)

(KGT 86):  The verb {mum} (taste) means sense flavors. To say {Soj vImum} ("I taste the food") is to say "I perceive a flavor or flavors", not "I try out the food to see if it is prepared properly". This latter meaning of taste is expressed by the verb {waH}, which can also be used more generally to mean "try out, test, use experimentally".

(KGT 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.

SEE ALSO:
wejwa' 		flavor, taste (n)
lev 		`	palate (n)
jat 			tongue (n)


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons