[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Saw

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Klingon word: Saw
Part of speech: verb
Definition: marry (husband does this)
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SEE:
nay 		marry (wife does this) (v)
tlhogh  		marry,  get married to (v)
tlhogh 		marriage (n)

(Lieven < MO, 7/13/2017):  This verb can be used regardless of who's getting married. Marry in the sense of what the person who conducts a marriage ceremony does would be {tlhoghmoH} (and the object would be plural)."

WRT same-sex marriage: 

(Lieven < MO, 7/13/2017):  Maltz says that, more and more, he's hearing an older word, {tlhogh}. (I don't know how he's hearing this – my basement isn't really equipped for extraterrestrial communication – but I certainly believe him.) The noun {tlhogh} is quite common. It means marriage, and it can be used for anybody marrying anybody. The verb {tlhogh}, however, was long considered quaint or archaic. But it's being used with increased frequency. It means marry and, like its noun counterpart, it can be used by both partners regardless of sex/gender, so it's used for male-male marriages, female-female marriages, and everything else. Use of this word lacks the yin-yang connotation of Saw and nay, but it's well suited for expressing what the folks getting married are up to. Depending on what you want to say, both {tlhogh} and {tlhoghchuq} are heard:  {B tlhogh A} "A marries B";  {tlhoghchuq A B je} "A and B marry each other".  But some Klingons also say {Sawchuq} and {naychuq}. The choice seems to be whatever the folks getting married prefer.

(Philip, 8/04/2017):  Given http://www.qephom.de/e/message_from_maltz_170713.html  and its endorsement of the grammaticality of {naychuq} and {Sawchuq} and its example of {B tlhogh A}, I assume that {nay} and {Saw} work similarly and that one can say {qeylIS nay luqara'} and {luqara' Saw qeylIS}.

'Ip 		vow, swear, take an oath (v)
'Ip  		oath (n)

   "The Oath is the "Klingon ritual of marriage, solemnizing the bond between husband and wife in the Klingon culture. Worf and K'Ehleyr almost "took the oath" after they spent a night together on the Enterprise-D holodeck in 2365, but neither felt ready for such a commitment at that time, even though they had just conceived a child together." tlhIngan jIH "I am a Klingon" is "[the first] part of the oath spoken between husband and wife in solemnizing their marriage". (STEncy [1994] 344; TNG "The Emissary")

CULTURAL NOTES:

   {tlhIngan Jih} "I am a Klingon" is "[the first] part of the oath spoken between husband and wife in solemnizing their marriage", which is for life. (STEncycl. [1994] 344; TNG "The Emissary")

   In a traditional Klingon wedding a targ is ritually slaughtered before the wedding feast: “First we shed blood and then we feast.” (Jadzia to Worf, DS9 “A Time To Stand”)

   Martok compared getting married to a war breaking out:  "A long, grueling, intoxicating war."  Although Martok has won his fair share of battles over the course of his marriage, he knows that in the end his wife Sirella will win the war. (DS9 "Strange Bedfellows")

PUN: 
Okrand confirmed at qep'a' loSDIch that {Saw} came from "sure" with a Southern drawl and {nay} came from "nay" (no).  (via HetaQ)

SEE ALSO:
loDnal 		husband (n)
be'nal 		wife (n)
'e'nal 		someone who married into the family (i.e. an "in-law") (n)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons