[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: laq

[Steven Boozer]

The gloss “blow (into wind instrument) to produce sound” in KGT may have been overly specific.  I think Okrand probably meant {SuS}to be a general word for “blow (into/onto/at something)” – i.e. what the wind {SuS} does.  Perhaps it was originally a weather verb like {SIS} “It’s raining”-- {SuS} “It’s winding” as it were or. more colloquially, “The wind is blowing.”

Okrand has discussed {SuS}:

(KGT 75):  Wind instruments (there is no overall term for them) range from the simple flute or fife ({Dov'agh}), generally crafted from a bone, to the highly complex {meSchuS}. This is a very large instrument, not at all easily moved from place to place, which consists of a network of interlocking tubes. One tube terminates in the mouthpiece ({ngujlep}) into which the player blows ({SuS}).

(qepHom 2017 p.20):  The verb {jo'} means “blow into a container of some kind” in the sense of “inflate, fill with air, blow up” ('blow up' like to blow up a balloon, not 'explode'). It's used for blowing up a balloon, blowing into a paper bag (so you can then hit the bag against something so that it explodes with a loud noise), whatever it is that glass blowers do, and, yes, blow bubbles. It's not the same as {SuS}, which can also be used for blowing out a candle. With {SuS} you're blowing into/onto/at something, but the air gets out of the thing (or never goes in it). With {jo'}, the air is trapped in the thing and can't come out until you let it out (or the thing breaks). The object of both verbs is the thing you blow into/onto/at. If you use a {-Daq} construction, it implies that you missed – you blew towards the object, but the air bypassed it.

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

________________________________________________________________________
From: mayqel qunen'oS
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2019 10:29 AM

Hugh:
> {SuS} is a verb as well as a noun, so  {SuS} should be sufficient

The only definition I can find for {SuS} (v) is "blow into wind instrument to produce sound", and the crap about blowing out a candle.

Could we stretch {SuS} (v) to "wind blowing in general" as well ?

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