There's also the other armadillo-like animal, the *tlhuHtuch*.
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "tlhingan-hol@kli.org" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: woSwa' (noun)
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Klingon Word of the Day for Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Klingon word: woSwa'
Part of speech: noun
Definition: armadillo-like animal, hedgehog-like animal
Source: QelIS boqHarmey [Klingon Alice]
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(Alice p.238-39): As it turns out, there's a Klingon animal that does roll itself up into a ball when in danger (that is, it pretends to be >dead or inanimate or something). It's called a {woSwa'}. There's also a bug that does the same thing, and it's called a {woSwa' ghew}, >suggesting that the rolling-up characteristic of the {woSwa'} is one of its defining features.
(Lieven, 12/01/2021): In the original version, Alice plays a round of Croquet with hedgehogs as balls. In the Klingon version, those are >{woSwa'mey}, animals that can roll up to balls, but they are not hedgehogs. They are more like armadillos. The discussion about this >word came when I tried to distinguish the mouse from the hedgehogs. I first thought of using {Qa'Hom} for the mouse, but then realized >that a) a titmouse is not a mouse, and b) according to KCD, it looks like a hedgehog. As this might have caused confusion, Maltz told >me about the {woSwa'} and the {lIS'ab}.
SEE:
Qoqe' croquet (Earth game) (n) (Klingon Alice)
neSngech dormouse-like animal (n) (Klingon Alice)
lIS'ab rodent (n)
- "This animal is more rat-sized than mouse-sized, but a {vIghro'} might well chase it.
Its face kind of resembles that of a bat (though a bat is not a rodent)." [qep'a' 2021]
SEE ALSO:
tetlh roll ("down a hill like a log") (v)
De'vID: Can {ron} ["roll, bank, be rolling"] be used for people, such as in martial arts or gymnastics?
Okrand: Yes... IF it means that the person is rolling haphazardly. If the person is doing a >somersault (rolling forwards or backwards in a reasonably controlled manner), the verb>is {Hay}. If the person is rolling down a hill as if he/she were a log, the verb is {tetlh} (related to the noun meaning "scroll," though it's not used for scrolls... unless a scroll is rolling down a hill)." [De'vID & Okrand, 3/01/2019]