[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: boq

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Tue Jun 12 08:29:08 PDT 2018


Klingon word: boq
Part of speech: noun
Definition: alliance, bloc, coalition, fusion
Source: HQ (9:3 p8)
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  taHjaj boq 
   [untranslated] (TKD 173)

  boq lucherDI' tlhIngan wo' romuluS Hov wo' je So'wI' cham Suqpu' tlhIngan wo'. 
  Cloaking technology was gained through an alliance with the Romulan Star Empire... (S33)

  tera' DIS cha' pagh wa' wej meHghem Qat Sub boq cherlu'. 
  In 2013, Popular Culture Hero Coalition was established. (PCHC 2016)
 
(HQ 4.4:11 "Groups"):   Some additional information has come to light regarding words relating to groups or assemblies. Among those words already well-known for different types of groups are:  {boq} alliance (also bloc or coalition, though coalition is sometimes {boq ru'}, literally "temporary alliance");  {DIvI'} federation or organization (also association, league, union);  {ghom} group or party (also band, in the nonmusical sense) ... (also {ghom'a'}) crowd.  Add to this list:  {tlhach} faction or sect.

See also {Qa'} which appears in the names of political unions (i.e. a permanent alliance?):  {yuQjIjQa'} United Federation of Planets (TKD), {qarDaSQa'} Cardassian Union (MKE), {'amerI'qa' SepjIjQa'} United States of America (TNK), {tuqjIjQa'} United Kingdom (TNK).

{boq} was used for "fusion" on the BoP Poster:

  Hong boq chuyDaH: loS 
  Impulse Fusion Thrusters - 4.  (KBoP)

boqwI'  	ally (n)

  Qo'noSDaq boqwI'mey nejmeH je leng qeylIS 'ej chaHvaD lut ja' 
  Kahless also went out to search For allies across Kronos, And told them his tale. (PB)

Note the homophonous verb {boq}  "ally with,  form an alliance with" and {boqHa'} "dis-ally,  dissociate from" which are also used in arithmetic:

CULTURAL NOTES:
(KGT 38):   Various fleets and squadrons are loyal to various houses, though, as might be expected, the details of these alliances are subject to change.

(KGT 36):  Some houses are particularly wealthy, controlling vast lands by means of armed forces loyal to the particular house. Other houses have far less influence and, for survival, often form alliances with the larger houses.
 
(KGT 121f.):  The idiom {bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'} ("The sword is in the ocean") is used to mean that something has ended, that it is impossible to return to a prior condition, just as Kahless and Morath never spoke to each other again. The expression might be used, for example, in reference to a treaty that was just signed, suggesting that a former state of antagonism has ended forever. Of course, simply saying that something will last forever does not make it so. If an alliance ends, the phrase is equally apt: the era of peace has ended, and the sword is in the ocean--there is no going back.

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons





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