[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: joH

[De'vID]

On Sat, 11 Sept 2021 at 15:35, SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:

> On 9/11/2021 9:22 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
>
> Seemingly/apparently, in direct address you can't use the word {joH}
> unless you either say {ghawran joH} or {joHwI'}.
>
> So, let's say you see a lord ready to cross the street and be run over by
> a bus.. You don't remember his name, and he isn't your lord either..
>
> According to the wisdom of the klingon language, you can't say {joH,
> yIyItchoHQo'}. Oh, no.. That's wrong..
>
> Hang on. What wisdom are you referring to? I don't remember seeing
> anything that said *joH* without the *-wI'* can't be used in direct
> address all by itself. Did I miss something?
>
I think mayqel may have misunderstood this sentence:
> When addressing the head of a house, a member of a lower class may use
either the name plus {joH} or else {joH} plus {-wI'}  [...]  {joHwI'} (my
Lord, my Lady).

It says "the head of *a* house", not "the head of *one's own* house". It's
perfectly fine to say {joHwI'} in direct address to a head of a Klingon
House which isn't one's own. The use of the possessive {-wI'} here seems to
indicate "a lord/lady relative to me", "a person in a higher social
position relative to me", and not necessarily "the lord/lady of my house".

-- 
De'vID
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