[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: lanSoy
Steven Boozer
sboozer at uchicago.edu
Mon Feb 27 07:28:17 PST 2023
Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, February 27, 2023
Klingon word: lanSoy
Part of speech: noun
Definition: queue, line, row (of people or things expected to be in motion)
Source: KLI Mailing list
_______________________________________________
De’vId wrote in re lines, rows, etc. [OZ, 2020?] :
“Besides being used for a row in a grid (as in a spreadsheet or other graphic representation), {wev} can be used for physical things in a row IF the overall configuration is (or might be) grid-like and there are (or might be) other rows, not just one. So it can't be used for, say, a lineup of people waiting to get into a movie or a lineup of possible perpetrators in the police station waiting to be identified by the victim.
“The word for the first of those (waiting for a movie) is {lanSoy}.
“The word for the second (police lineup) is {wIyqap}.
“An important difference between the two is that in the case of {lanSoy}, it is expected that the row or line of people or things is (or will be or might be) in motion, one member of the row following the other, and eventually the row diminishes until it's gone. The constituents of a {wIyqap} aren't expected to move.
“Also, if the people (or things) get sort of bunched up, so there's an individual followed by a group of three followed by another individual followed by a group of two, etc., etc., but the overall structure is one line, it's still one {wIyqap} or one {lanSoy} (or one {wev}, for that matter, though probably not in a graph).
“For {wev}, there are usually several distinct rows. For example, rows of corn or rows of trees growing in a field on a farm. If there's only one row in a situation where typically there are two or three or more (or it wouldn't be surprising to have two or three or more), {wev} is still appropriate. So if the farm had several rows of corn under cultivation but only one row of apple trees, you could still use {wev} for the trees because, on a farm, things are planted in {wev}-like configurations.
“If there's only one row (or line) where there's typically only one, one of the other words is more likely. But, just as {wev} can be used for a single row, {wIyqap}, for example, could be used for both of two rows of hardened thugs lined up, one row behind the other, waiting to be scrutinized by the victim. If there are two rows of people waiting to get into a concert venue that has two side-by-side entrances, you'd still use {lanSoy} for each of them, not {wev}.
“When confronted with one row in a situation where the speaker doesn't know whether this is usual (this sort of arrangement typically has one row) or aberrant (this sort of arrangement typically has more than one row, but not this time), the word {wIyqap} is probably the right choice.
“And finally — the slang term {mIr} 'chain' can, if things are clear, be used for {wIyqap} or {lanSoy} (though probably not for {wev}).
“Okrand suggested {Ho' wIyqap} for 'row of teeth'."
To summarize:
lanSoy queue, line, row (of people/things expected to be in motion)
wIyqap row, line (of people/things not expected to be in motion)
SEE ALSO:
tlhegh line, rope
mu'tlhegh sentence
nugh tlhegh "society rope" (?) KCD
vIttlhegh proverb
yutlhegh spectrum, (musical) scale
mIr chain
wa’chaw spreadsheet, table
tlhat grid (in a table or spreadsheet)
war column (in a table or spreadsheet)
wev row (in a table or spreadsheet)
--
Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
Please contribute relevant vocabulary from recent qep’a’mey
or qepHommey. I’ve fallen woefully behind in updating my files.
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