[tlhIngan Hol] expressing "body parts" {'ay'Du'} or {'ay'mey}

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Fri Jan 28 07:56:17 PST 2022


Actually we do have some canon for {‘ay’}:

   'ay'vamDaq nuHmey tIQeq
   Target weapons on this location. (ENT "Affliction")
   moQbara' 'ay'mey bota'ta'
   You have both finished the forms of the *mok'bara* (PB 104-5)
   tlhIngan toQDuj 'ay'mey tetlh
   Klingon Bird of Prey technical callouts (KBoP, ie. a parts list)

   taw ‘ay’
   (city) block) (qepHom 2016)

… and there is this suggestive compound noun from qepHom 2020:

   rem'ay'
   diaphragm,  thoracic diaphragm [body part]
I agree with De’vID that {porgh ‘ay’Du’} is the best option for now, which is consistent with:

porgh                   body
porgh Dotlh        health
porgh Hat           body temperature
porgh mIw          bodily function
porghQeD           the scientific study of bodily functions

Okrand OTOH may one day choose to connect body parts/organs somehow with {bIraqlul} *brak'lul* (redundancy in body parts).  The Klingon body incorporates multiple redundancies for nearly all vital bodily functions which gives Klingon warriors enormous resiliency in battle, since almost every function in their body is duplicated in case any primary organ or system fails.  From various episodes we know that Klingons have two livers, three lungs, twenty-three ribs, a redundant stomach, an eight-chambered heart, a backup for their synaptic functions, redundant neural functions, and at least two *QiVons* (whatever they are).

Voragh

=============================================================
From: tlhIngan-Hol On Behalf Of De'vID
On Fri, 28 Jan 2022 at 14:05, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
Suppose I want to say "reproductive organs of the human body".
Of course, since we don't have a word meaning "organ" as in
"organ of the human body",
I choose the next best thing I can find which is {'ay'}. So I ask..

{porgh 'ay'}?

{ngaghmeH 'ay'mey} or {ngaghmeH 'ay'Du'}?

Leaving aside the question of whether {ngaghmeH 'ay'} says what you want, for {'ay'} referring to body parts, I'd use {'ay'Du'}.

We don't have any canon examples with {'ay'}, but we know from some other words that the plural suffix on a noun can change depending on what it's referring to. For example, {DIr} takes the suffix {-Du'} when still on a body, but {-mey} otherwise:
https://www.kli.org/tlhIngan-Hol/1998/March/msg00545.html<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.kli.org/tlhIngan-Hol/1998/March/msg00545.html__;!!BpyFHLRN4TMTrA!ptzJiqqELDLvwQ19UG7WEUMXMceUTZGUv85p9Bomz1e7KGBIZWt8jlPA-CDvKzdbB1U$>

The plural {latlhpu'} has appeared several times in canon when referring to people:

{Heghpu'bogh latlhpu' ghuHmoH bey.} (SkyBox 31)
{yIntaH qIrq 'e' vIneH. DaSwIj bIngDaq latlhpu' vItap.} (Star Trek Constellations p.232)
{latlhpu' law' pIlmoHpu' lutvam} (paq'batlh p.131)

And lastly, there is a non-canon precedent: the plural {'ay'Du'} for body parts has also been used in the Tribble Song:
http://klingon.wiki/En/YIHBom<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/klingon.wiki/En/YIHBom__;!!BpyFHLRN4TMTrA!ptzJiqqELDLvwQ19UG7WEUMXMceUTZGUv85p9Bomz1e7KGBIZWt8jlPA-CDvWcXWepk$>

--
De'vID
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