[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: cha'puj

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon word: cha'puj
Part of speech: noun
Definition: dilithium
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cha'puj tlhIlHal vISuch vIneH 
I want to visit the dilithium mines. CK 

cha'pujqutmey vIje' vIneH 
I want to buy dilithium crystals. PK

cha'puj vIngevmeH chaw' HInobneS 
Give me a permit to sell dilithium, your honor. PK

yuQ SumDaq cha'puj law' Datu' 
Detect large sums of dilithium on nearby planet. MKE

choH lISbogh Hap'e': cha'pujqut 
Reaction Moderating Element - Crystalline Dilithium. KBoP

cha'pujqutmey chIm lutamlu' 
Drained dilithium crystals are replaced. MKE

TREK NOTES:
  "The prisoners on Rura Penthe ... mine dilithium, required for warp propulsion systems." (TKW 190)

  The Y-class Earth Cargo Service ship ECS Fortunate carried 20 kilotons of dilithium ore on the Draylax-Vega Colony run in 2151. (ENT "Fortunate Son")

  The remote Galactic Mining Station on Delta-Vega is an uninhabited automated lithium cracking station, "rich in crystal and minerals." (TOS "Where No Man Has Gone Before")

  "Dilithium molecules are the hardest, most rigid..." (Scott, TAS "the Terratin Incident")

  In 2365 the Enterprise-D discovered on Drema IV the largest deposits of dilithium ever recorded; an ico-spectrogram can identify "traker deposits" [sic!]  of Ilium 269, a naturally formed by-product of the geological decay of dilithium. (TNG "Pen Pals")

  Little is known about Remus, "although intelligence scans have proven the existence of dilithium mining and heavy weapons construction."  (Data, ST:Nemesis)

TREKNOLOGY:
(lay'tel SIvten, 2/28/06):  There have been a couple of fictitious chemical formulas for dilithium postulated.  The simpler is Li2Te, or dilithium telluride. The more complex is Li2Fe7Al2Si8O27.  Both are hypothetically possible, but it's unlikely that either actually has the fantastic properties that are ascribed to dilithium in Star Trek ...  I seriously doubt, for instance, that dilithium telluride is likely to be able to regulate a matter-antimatter reaction.  (For more information on this, read _The Physics of Star Trek_ by Lawrence Krauss.) ...  Dilithium could also refer to a transuranic element that resembles lithium in some way, such as outer shell configuration.  "Dilithium" would have to be a nickname, though, I think, because we have numeric syllables to create arbitrary chemical element names, such as unipentihexium, i.e. element 156.

SEE:
cha'puj choHmeH bobcho'  	dilithium processing unit (n) 
cha'puj choHwI'  		dilithium processor (n) 
cha'puj pa'  			dilithium chamber (n) 
cha'puj tlhIlHal  			dilithium mine (n)
cha'pujqut  			dilithium crystal (n)

SEE ALSO:
Dom 				radan [crude dilithium crystals] (n)
Hap  				matter [substance] (n)
rugh 				antimatter (n)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons