[tlhIngan Hol] New words from "Miniatur Wunderland"

[nIqolay Q]

On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 1:08 PM qurgh lungqIj <qurgh at wizage.net> wrote:

> I agree. {targhHom} is NEVER just a "small targ", that would be {targh
> mach}. A {targhHom} is a creature like a targ, but less like a targ than a
> targ normally is. A {DujHom} isn't just a small ship, it's a different kind
> of ship.
>

I think the accepted usage of *-Hom *and *-'a'* by some Klingonists is
stricter than what's implied by canon. While *-Hom* can connote a different
sort of thing from the noun without *-Hom*, this isn't always the case. In
some cases, a noun with *-Hom* refers to something that is presumably the
same class as the noun without *-Hom*. A *bo'DaghHom* is just a small
scoop, for instance, not an entirely different utensil. A *SuSHom* is a
less intense *SuS*, rather than some distinct weather phenomenon that's not
quite the same as a volume of moving air in the sky. A *naQHom* is just a
small stick. In paq'batlh, it's used to translate a derogatory use of
"mere":

>
>
> *veqlargh    qa'pu'wI' 'avwI'    Dutojta' ghotHom jubbe'*
>
>
> *Fek'lhr! Guardian of my souls,    You have been outwitted    By a mere
> mortal!*
>
(Book paq'raD, canto 5, lines 4-6, page 109)
The mortal in question (Kahless) is still a *ghot*, but Kotar considers him
to be a less important or less powerful *ghot*.

There's a bit of canon explanation that's somewhat relevant:
http://klingonska.org/canon/1999-12-holqed-08-4-b.txt

> Qov's suggestion, /QelHom/, consisting of /Qel/ "doctor" plus the
> diminutive suffix /-Hom/, is also an acceptable form (and is an excellent
> illustration of the diminutive suffix -- the word means "not quite a
> doctor" or "lesser doctor" or the like).
>
Okrand's phrasing here suggests that while *-Hom* can mean "not quite an
X", it can *also* mean "lesser X", something that is still an X but in some
lesser way. In other words, there's no specific category distinction.
*targhHom* could mean "not quite a targ" (some kind of similar, but
different, species), but also "lesser targ" (a targ that is in some way
lesser than other targs but still nonetheless a targ). Unlike *DujHom*,
*Qa'Hom*, and other *-Hom* words with specific dictionary entries, we don't
have a specific translation implying one interpretation.

It also doesn't help that English has many more words than Klingon, making
it easier to provide different glosses for a noun with and without *-Hom*,
giving the impression that the two words have some fundamental distinction.
Would Klingons conceive of a *QelHom* as being something necessarily
distinct from a *Qel*? Or is that simply an artifact of trying to use
Klingon terminology to describe the hierarchy of Federation medical
personnel, in which "nurse" and "doctor" are distinct concepts, implying
different levels of training, authority, and duties? (The fact that the
rest of the message is about other translations of "nurse" suggests the
latter.)

There are clearly some nouns which seem to have idiomatic connotations when
used with *-Hom* or *-'a'*, beyond simply the idea of "smaller, less
important, or less powerful" described in TKD. The use of *-Hom* in *DujHom*
*shuttlecraft* seems to not only imply a smaller size but also the idea of
being carried by a larger *Duj*. But I'm not sure these idioms are
necessarily generalizable. (I suppose it's also possible that there's no
idiom here at all, that *DujHom* is perfectly legitimate for "small ship",
and that the gloss "shuttlecraft" is simply an example of the size of a
spacefaring *DujHom* rather than also implying the other connotations of
the English term "shuttlecraft", such as being carried on a larger ship. *'ach
DaHjaj DoSvetlh vItlha'be'.*)
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