[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: nagh beQ

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Klingon word: nagh beQ
Part of speech: noun
Definition: stone panel (artwork, similar to a painting)
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nagh beQ yIDIj 
Paint the stone panel! [Lieven < MO, 9/03/2018]

DI'raq Dacha'meH nagh beQ yIDIj 
Paint the stone panel with [a picture of] a sheep!
 ("Paint the stone panel with a pigment stick so that you display a sheep!") [Lieven < MO, 9/03/2018]

DI'raq DanarghmoHmeH nagh beQ yIDIj 
Paint the stone panel with [a picture of] a sheep! [Lieven < MO, 9/03/2018]

narghmeH DI'raq (nagh beQ) yIDIj 
Paint (the stone panel with) [a picture of] a sheep! 
("In order for the sheep to escape/appear, paint (the stone panel) with a pigment stick!") [Lieven < MO, 9/03/2018]

(KGT 80):  Carving or incising is also done on flat surfaces, usually a stone panel or {nagh beQ} (literally, "flat rock"), a term that has been extended to mean the resulting artwork itself as well as similar pieces, including paintings. Such carvings are sometimes just ornamental, sometimes informational (if the Klingon writing system, {pIqaD}, is incorporated into the design), sometimes representational. What the Federation would classify as a painting - that is, a {nagh beQ} featuring an image not carved into it but painted onto it - is made by applying {rItlh} [pigment,  paint,  dye] ...

(KGT 82):  When it is necessary to talk about colors more precisely, as it might be for the creator of a {nagh beQ), various devices are employed.

(Lieven, Facebook group tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI'pu', 12/01/2010):  Finally, someone last year asked for the word for picture. At first, Maltz wondered why {nagh beQ} wasn't good enough. But then he thought about it some more and said that another word, {mIllogh}, could be used for any sort of depiction, including drawings, photographs, cartoons, icons on 21st-century computers, and so on.

 (Lieven, 11/07/2016):  [KGT] (p. 79) says there is no single word for art or artwork. This refers to visual art (painting, sculpture, etc.).  {meHghem} (arts, the arts, culture) is a bigger, more comprehensive term covering "the arts" or "art" as opposed to "science." So it includes music, theater, dance, etc. as well as visual art. It's "culture" in this sense.  Similarly, {vIqraq} (artifact, work of art) is more general than a visual piece of art. It covers that, but also an artifact (not in the archaeological sense), handicraft, gizmo, gadget, contraption, machine, device, etc. – that is, something manufactured/made.

There's a photo of the clone of Kahless standing in front of his own portrait in KGT (page 7).  

PUN:  "flat rock" (i.e. cave painting)

SEE:
ghItlh 		engrave, incise, mark (v)
DIj 		use a pigment stick (v)
cha' 		show, display (picture) (v)

mIllogh 		picture, (visual) depiction, image, drawing, etc. (n)
vIqraq 		artifact, work of art (n)
HaSta 		visual display (on monitor) (n)
wIy 		tactical display (on monitor) (n)
'echlet 		board (n)
‘angweD  	museum (n)

--
Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
    Please contribute relevant vocabulary from the last year or two. I’ve fallen 
    behind in updating my files and adding cross-references for related words.