[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: bertlham

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon word: 	bertlham
Part of speech: 	noun
Definition: 	end (of an opera, play, story, speech)
Source: 	HQ:v12n2p8
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bertlham 
 [title of final section]  (PB)

(HQ 12.2:8-9):  There is a difference between the end of the performance of a song or opera or play, indicated by  making use of the verbs {van} and {ghang}, and the ending, or final portion, of a song or opera or play itself.  For an opera, play, story, speech, and so on, the final portion is its {bertlham}.  This word usually refers to the last aria or other musical portion in an opera, last speech in a play, last sentence or so of a story or an address.  The {bertlham} of a well-known work is often well-known itself, as is its beginning ({bI'reS}).  For a song—but only for a song—the final portion is its {'o'megh}.  Parallel to {bertlham}, {'o'megh} is the final phrase or so of the song, one that brings the song to a definite conclusion.  All songs have endings ({'o'meghmey}), some more elaborate or stirring than others … that portion of the song that comes at the beginning—a portion that is often so familiar that listeners know what song it is after hearing just that short portion—is the {namtun}. 

PUN: 
Bertram is the hero of Shakespeare's play "All's Well That Ends Well"

SEE:
bertlham taymey  	epilogue (n) (qep’a’ 2020)

(qep’a’ 2020):  Prologue is {bI'reS taymey} and epilogue is {bertlham taymey}.  But it's really more complicated.  {taymey} is a section of a book or play or the like that's separate from the main portion of the work.  It's seldom used without {bI'reS} ("beginning") or {bertlham} ("end") unless everyone already knows what the discussion is about (so, for example, you could say {bI'reS taymey} once and then, after that in the same discussion about the same thing, you don't have to include {bI'reS} each time).  Despite its description, {taymey} is not used for the appendix of a work.  A {taymey} contextualizes the main work; an appendix [see {HommaH}] is considered supplemental.  Maltz thought that this word was a remnant of the way stories used to be told orally, since they'd begin and end with some sort of ritual ({tay}), the details of which are lost.  Even though {taymey} ends with the {-mey} "plural" suffix, {taymey} is a frozen form and is considered singular.  It's okay to say {taymeymey} should the need arise.

SEE ALSO:
Dor 	end  (v)
van  	end (an event) (v)
ghang 	end [an event] prematurely (v)

MUDD:	 Do know what the penalty for fraud is on Deneb V? 
SPOCK:  The guilty party has his choice:  death by electrocution, death by 
	 gas, death by phaser, death by hanging. 
MUDD:  The key word in your entire peroration, Mr Spock, was... “death”. 
	 [TOS “I, Mudd”]

JADZIA:  Not every relationship has to end like a Klingon opera.
WORF:   No. Just the ones that are important. [DS9 “Let He Who is Without Sin…”]

Anyone know of other frozen plural forms that are considered singular?  Off the top of my head In can think of {mebpa'mey} "hotel" (lit. "rooms") and {mIvwa'mey} "tally, results, score (lit. "scars").

--
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.