Speaking of semantic range... apart from {magh yotlh} "lawn", {yotlh} was provided for "park (e.g. recreational)" at qepHom 2016 - whence we also learned {ghommeH yotlh} "plaza, courtyard". These suggest to me Human (or should I say Klingon?) intervention: i.e. a managed, cultivated piece of land vs. the open {Hatlh} "country, countryside". E.g. Sepvetlh latlh DopDaq Hatlh lengtaHvIS qeylIS lutlhej tlhInganpu' Hem mI' nIb On the other side of the land, Kahless traveled the lands with an equal number of proud Klingons (PB) nIteb peghoS, HatlhDaq peleng to go their separate ways, And travel the lands. (PB) Beyond the {Sep} "region, country" lies the {Hatlh}. --Voragh On Behalf Of Rhona Fenwick ghItlhpu' Voragh, jatlh:
Actually qep'a' 2016 produced something close to one of your desiderata: magh Klingon plant that most closely resembles grass (n) magh yotlh lawn (n) So I would say *{magh tIq yotlh} "field of long grass" for grassland, steppe, prairie, etc., though {Hatlh} might be better for open, uncultivated/unmanaged land.
Oh yes, I did know about those (and I'm grateful for your reminder of them!). I suppose I'm more thinking that we have {HuD} and {ngech} for hills and valleys, but for open flat land like a steppe or plain or prairie, I wasn't sure if {yotlh} would be appropriate, since KGT seems to imply that it's a cultivated plot of land: "The verb {yob} ("harvest") is used to refer to gathering up plants or plant parts, whether from a field ({yotlh}) that has been sown or out in the wild." (KGT p.89) I've been using {Hatlh} as a stopgap, but it'd be nice to know what the semantic range is on these words. QeS 'utlh