[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: mI'

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, May 05, 2017
> 
> Klingon word: mI'
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: number


nuq mI'lIj, tera'ngan 
What is your number, Terran? (CK)

lutlhej tlhInganpu' Hem mI' nIb 
an equal number of proud Klingons [accompany him] (PB)

pIraqSIS HoS waw' ghajlu'chugh, loSlogh boq'egh mI'
 naghmey mI'; chen qav'ap
If Praxis Energy Facility is owned, rent is 4 times
 amount shown on dice. MKE

ghogh HablI' mI' yIper 
What is the telephone number? (TNK)

[bama/mIyanma] Hol mu'mey chaHbe'.  mI'mey neH cha'. 
[It (Facebook) does not show the words in Burmese. It
 shows only numbers. (untr.)] (MO to Andre, 2/11/2014)


GRAMMAR NOTES:

(TKD 3.3.2):  The plural suffixes ({-pu'}, {-mey}) are not necessary when a number is used.

(KGT 72):  It is possible that, at some time in the past, the numerals were "borrowed" into the lexicon of music in order to sing the scale ... It is far more likely, however, that the borrowing went in the other direction

(KGT 73):  The independent words for the numbers three through nine were not originally a part of the Klingon counting system, but they had to come from somewhere. The musical scale is the likely source. The word for the fourth musical tone, {loS}, began to be used for the number four, and so on through the eighth tone, {chorgh}. (The origins of the words {Hut} [nine] and the suffix {-maH}, used in the words for ten, twenty, thirty, and so on, are obscure.)

(HQ 9.3:10):  {wej boqHa' loS} would be "3 - 4" and the answer would be a negative number (a concept Maltz wanted to postpone for another time).

(Lieven < MO, 10/29/2015):  You would not say {nav wej} for page three, unless you're talking about three separate sheets of paper. A "page" (like the page in a book, that you can number) is a {tenwal}. Maltz also wanted me to point out that {tenwal} ("page") is used only for numbered pages in a book or something similar. One side of a piece of paper is a {Dop}, so a piece of paper has two {Dopmey}. Usually, there is one {tenwal} per {Dop}, but page numbering can get confusing sometimes.

(SuStel 12/18/1996:  Actually, in answering my letter about {qep'a' wejDIch}, Marc Okrand used the phrase {qep'a' wejDIchDaq}. Now, it could be considered just a name, but it may also be possible that noun suffixes can go to the ordinal number.

{-Daq} can also go on cardinal numbers - e.g. {nImbuS wejDaq 'ejDo' 'entepray' ngeHlu'pu'} (ST5), {Qo'noS wa'Daq baHta' ['entepray']} (ST6) - but these too are proper names: Kronos One, Nimbus III.

N.B. Do not confuse the noun {mI'} "number" with the verb {mI'} "dance, run in place, exercise, do calisthenics, do martial arts movements".


SEE:
mI' naghmey  	dice (n)
mI' tej  		mathematician (n)

SEE ALSO:
togh 			count (v)
SIm 			calculate (v)


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