[tlhIngan Hol] excuse me but what the jay' is {taymey}

[Steven Boozer]

Here's how {taymey} was described in the qep'a' 2020 materials:

    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.

--
Voragh

------------------------------Original Message-----------------------------------
From: tlhIngan-Hol On Behalf Of Lieven L. Litaer

Am 11.11.2021 um 14:32 schrieb mayqel qunen'oS:
> I still don't understand, and perhaps it's because I'm trying to find 
> a greek/english word for {taymey}. So let's approach this differently.

I'm actually not sure what your problem is with this, especially since "prologue" and "epilogue" are both of greek origin.

{taymey} is part of a book that is not part of the main contents. You could probable even read and understand the story without looking at the {taymey}. You might see it as a "frame", or as "additional information".  In most cases, the taymey are shorter than the book itself.

Look at this page of contents:

bI'reS taymey  <-- introduction telling you to read the book
   chapter 1 <-- story begins here
   chapter 2
   chapter 3
   chapter 4 <-- story ends here
bertlham taymey <-- final word outside the story 
HommaH <-- appendix with additional information, like a glossary