[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: nIyma' (noun)

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Sunday, December 21, 2025

Klingon word: nIyma'
Part of speech: noun
Definition: phantom, apparition, something that appears to be there but is not
Source: qepHom'a' Soch
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(MO to Lieven, 11/23?/08):  {nIyma'} is the Klingon word for phantom or apparition--something that seems to appear, but isn't really there. It's not the same as ghost, which is the spirit of a dead person (and may or may not look like that person, or may not be visible at all), and it's not the same as spirit (or {qa'}), which is sort of a life force within a person (that escapes when a person dies and may exist somewhere somehow). He said using {qa'} for ghost was OK, but I got the impression there may be another word as well (though he didn't offer one). He said that although the word doesn't really mean invited guest that doesn't show up, it made a lot of sense to him to use {nIyma'} to refer to such a person.

(qep'a' 2019 [Cf. {'aw} "go through, pass through (matter)"]:  This is what ghosts, or phased lifeforms, do.

 PUN:
(Lieven, 9/29/2016):   Nima is the name of a [7th (November 2008)] qepHom attendee [at the 7th German qepHom'a' (November 2008)] who was most of the time absent.  Students were joking whether *nima* may be Klingon for the opposite of uninvited guest {'elIjaH}, so a guest who does not show up. By the way, Maltz was surprised that we knew that word.

SEE ALSO:
*lomqa' 		ghost (n) (Hamlet/KBTP)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons