[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: vItlh

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon word: vItlh
Part of speech: verb
Definition: be high, be great (in quantity, size, intensity)
Source: qepHom 2016
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Do vItlh 
high velocity  (qepHom 2017)

chuq vItlh 
great range, great distance  (qepHom 2017) 

Do patlh vItlhqu' chavta'.  qaStaHvIS wa' rep, vaghvatlh javmaH loS qelI'qam lenglaH, wabDo wa' vI' pagh jav. 
He reached a speed of 1127 kilometers per hour (700 miles per hour), or Mach 1.06 at an altitude of 13,000 meters (43,000 feet).  (NASM: Bell X-1)

[...] vuvDI' Bell X-wa', DoDaj vItlh law' wab Do vItlh puS. Do patlhvam chavta'bogh muD Duj wa'DIch moj 'oH. 
[...] the Bell X-1 became the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound  (NASM: Bell X-1)

Heghmey DISIQpu'.  'a DIvI' Hegh vItlh law' Heghmaj vItlh puS. 
We have suffered losses but the Federation has suffered far more.  (L'Rell, DSC/Qov "Battle At the Binary Stars")

(qepHom 2017):  {vItlh} means "be high, great" (in quantity, size, intensity). It's used for things that are measurable or quantifiable but not necessarily countable.  So you'd use it for things like speed or distance or the price of something: {Do vItlh} "high velocity", {chuq vItlh} "great range, great distance".  You wouldn't use {law'} in these instances.  For things you can count (like people) (as opposed to things you can measure using units of measure, like length or speed), you'd use {law'} almost all the time.  But you'd use {vItlh} if the number of whatever it is you're talking about is higher than normal or greater than before or greater than what was expected. 
   So if you were referring to a lot of warriors, you'd most likely say {SuvwI'pu' law'}.  But if the high number of warriors is somehow important, if it's the point you're trying to make and not just an added fact, you'd use {vItlh}.  You'd use it if you're not saying merely that there are a lot of warriors, but that the quantity of warriors is particularly high (higher than usual, higher than expected, higher than some other similar group of warriors, etc.).  So it sounds like L'Rell used {vItlh} correctly in referring to the large number of people who died in battle (more than expected, more than before, etc.).  Note that the exact number of warriors (or whatever) doesn't matter (and doesn't have to be stated).  The idea is that the high number of warriors you're talking about is somehow noteworthy (the number of warriors who died is greater than the norm for this sort of military unit, for example).

SEE ALSO:
law' 		be many (v)
juv 		measure (v)
'eS 		be low (v)

Dun  		be wonderful,  be great (v)
qu'  		be great, wonderful, excellent, superlative, splendid (slang vb.)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons