Hi,
I just started a page in the Klingon.wiki listing metaphorically used
words and also metonyms. Okrand did not name them as such, and I noticed
ther are others that fit in such alist which were not explicitally label
as such, like {Soj} meaning "matter, affair" instead of "food".
Then I noticed that many of the idioms use (or are) metaphors, so it
kind of overlaps. Now come the questions...
1. Did anyone ever make such a compilation already?
Not exactly, but if you look at {boQwI'}'s database, sentences which are idioms are tagged as such (they have "part_of_speech" set to "sen:idiom"). Not all of them are metaphors.
The list isn't that long, so I'll post it here:
beyHom bey bey'a' jachtaH
bIQ ngaS HIvje'.
bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'.
bo'Dagh'a' lo'
bo'DaghHom lo'
cha'maH cha' joQDu'
cha' DoSmey DIqIp.
cha' qabDu'
Doq bIQtIq bIQ
DoS chIl
ghaH vuv SuS neH
ghe'torvo' narghDI' qa'pu'
Ha'quj nge'
Hoch jaghpu'Daj HoHbogh SuvwI' yIvup.
Hoch nuH qel
jop 'ej way'
latlh HIvje'Daq 'Iw HIq bIr yIqang!
latlh je
lInchuq
may' bom pIm bom
mIn yuq
mIvDaq pogh cha'
mIv je DaS
notlh tonSaw'lIj.
ngaQ lojmIt
ngem Sarghmey tlha'
pel'aQDaj ghorpa'
pe'vIl bI'chu'
pe'vIl roS
pollaH pagh polHa'laH
pumDI'
qabDu' law'
qagh HoH
qIvon belmoH
qul DIr yISop!
quSDaq ba'
Qoylu'taH
ro'lIj HI'ang!
SuD veqlargh mInDu'.
tIngvo' 'evDaq chanDaq
to'waQ yIv
vaj Duj chIj
vIHtaH gho
wa' DoS wIqIp.
wa'maH cha' pemmey wa'maH cha' rammey je
'arlogh Qoylu'pu'?
'ebmey jonHa'
'e' qa'
'IDnar lIl
'IwwIj jeD law' 'IwlIj jeD puS.
'oy'qu' Qay'wI'wIj.
2. Would you understand and/or accept words taken from idioms in a
different context, like if I use {Ha'quj} without the verb {nge'} -
would you know I talk about somebody's pride? (Well, KGT says that
phrases outside of context would only be understood literally, but I'd
ask anyway.)
No, if I thought it wasn't literal, I would think you were talking about their {tuq}, which is what it's a symbol of.
3. Some idioms consist of only a noun phrase, like {naH jajmey}.
Wouldn't that also be a metonymy?
Some idioms are instances of metonymy, but not all idioms which are noun phrases are metonyms. {chatlh} meaning "nonsense" is an idiom, but not a metonym.