On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu> wrote:

(HQ 10.4):  Maltz blurted out that there are two common words for mirror:  {SIla'} and {neSlo'}.  He said that a {SIla'} was typically larger than a {neSlo'}, but he wasn't sure if there was any other difference.

neSlo' tonSaw' Qav     
The Final Reflection (novel by John Ford)

  "[For] The Final Reflection ... if reflection, as in image in a mirror is needed, he [Maltz] offered {neSlo' tonSaw' Qav}." (Okrand to qurgh, 9/01/2010)

  "We went with {neSlo' tonSaw' Qav} for the title of the book, since reflection, in this case, refers to version of *klinzha* that is played with a mirror." (qurgh, 9/01/2010)

  "It's an interpretative translation of the name of a book: The Final Reflection. The reference is to a variant of a Klingon chess-like game in which the player is simultaneously trying both to capture the goal and to move to avoid letting the goal be captured." (ghunchuwI', 8/01/2017]

From this title translation, I am inclined to expect that one says {SIla'} primarily for a mirror whose size has been established as large and that, if the size hasn't been established or isn't relevant, {neSlo'} is the more likely term, the way we use "cow" generically (if incorrectly) for cattle regardless of their sex. jIjatlhchugh <neSlo' HInob!> ghaytan SIla' je vIlo'laH. jIjatlhchugh <SIla' HInob!> ghaytan yapbe' neSlo'.