Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: 'eng (noun)
Shouldn't these sentences have the prefix *lu-*, since we are speaking of "clouds" (plural)? Or is it a "weather exception"? --- Gesendet: Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2025 um 16:33 Von: "Klingon Word via tlhIngan-Hol" <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> An: tlhingan-hol@kli.org CC: "Klingon Word" <kwotd@wizage.net> Betreff: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: 'eng (noun) It was in the booklet for qep'a' 23 in 2016. https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-language-information/qepa-chamah-wejdi... has the page. Its the section on seasons. qurgh On Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:26 AM Lieven L. Litaer via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> wrote: I'd like to have my notes correct, so please help: According to my notes, the phrase below was explained at qep'a' 2017, not 2016. But when I checked my own lists, I couldn't find that information on either list. Any websearch isn't helpful either. So where did it come from? Am 16.12.2025 um 17:34 schrieb Steven Boozer via tlhIngan-Hol:
(qurgh < Okrand, qep'a' 2016): For a cloudy day, he used {jul So' 'eng} ("clouds hide the sun") or {jul tlhoDmoH 'eng} ("clouds filter the sun") ... depending on just how cloudy things are.
wa'Hu' jul So'mo' 'eng... Because it was (pretty) cloudy yesterday... (lit. "Because yesterday clouds hid the sun...") (qep'a' 2016) -- Lieven L. Litaer aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany" https://tlhInganHol.com https://klingon.wiki/En/AliceInWonderland
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Am 18.12.2025 um 13:09 schrieb Luis via tlhIngan-Hol:
Shouldn't these sentences have the prefix *lu-*, since we are speaking of "clouds" (plural)? Or is it a "weather exception"?
Good catch! Grammatically, you are right. I'm not sure if there is such a reason, but I would argue that the error lies in the English translation, not the Klingon. I think one might consider {'eng} as a singular entity, translated as both "cloud" and "clouds" in this case. So, literally {jul So' 'eng} is "one big piece of cloud hides the sun". After all, if you'd take it literally, multiple clouds could not hide the sun completely, unless stacked on top of each other in front of the sun. -- Lieven L. Litaer aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany" https://tlhInganHol.com https://klingon.wiki/En/Weather
Perhaps these are treating 'eng cloud not as an object but as a mass noun akin to “grass” or “wool”. I would be willing to think of it as working like “rock”, which can be either a countable thing or a substance (e.g. a “rock wall”). Or perhaps it’s just an error in canon. — ghunchu'wI'
On Dec 18, 2025, at 4:09 AM, Luis via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> wrote:
Shouldn't these sentences have the prefix *lu-*, since we are speaking of "clouds" (plural)? Or is it a "weather exception"?
---
(qurgh < Okrand, qep'a' 2016): For a cloudy day, he used {jul So' 'eng} ("clouds hide the sun") or {jul tlhoDmoH 'eng} ("clouds filter the sun") ... depending on just how cloudy things are.
wa'Hu' jul So'mo' 'eng... Because it was (pretty) cloudy yesterday... (lit. "Because yesterday clouds hid the sun...") (qep'a'
Since Klingon has no articles, it could have just as well been translated in English as “A cloud covered the Sun,” since it doesn’t matter how many clouds there are, just one of them covers the Sun. pItlh charghwI’ ‘utlh (ghaH, ghaH, -Daj)
On Dec 18, 2025, at 7:09 AM, Luis via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> wrote:
Shouldn't these sentences have the prefix *lu-*, since we are speaking of "clouds" (plural)? Or is it a "weather exception"?
---
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2025 um 16:33 Von: "Klingon Word via tlhIngan-Hol" <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> An: tlhingan-hol@kli.org CC: "Klingon Word" <kwotd@wizage.net> Betreff: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: 'eng (noun) It was in the booklet for qep'a' 23 in 2016.
https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-language-information/qepa-chamah-wejdi... has the page. Its the section on seasons.
qurgh
On Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 10:26 AM Lieven L. Litaer via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> wrote: I'd like to have my notes correct, so please help:
According to my notes, the phrase below was explained at qep'a' 2017, not 2016. But when I checked my own lists, I couldn't find that information on either list. Any websearch isn't helpful either.
So where did it come from?
Am 16.12.2025 um 17:34 schrieb Steven Boozer via tlhIngan-Hol:
(qurgh < Okrand, qep'a' 2016): For a cloudy day, he used {jul So' 'eng} ("clouds hide the sun") or {jul tlhoDmoH 'eng} ("clouds filter the sun") ... depending on just how cloudy things are.
wa'Hu' jul So'mo' 'eng... Because it was (pretty) cloudy yesterday... (lit. "Because yesterday clouds hid the sun...") (qep'a' 2016) -- Lieven L. Litaer aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany" https://tlhInganHol.com https://klingon.wiki/En/AliceInWonderland
tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org
participants (4)
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ghunchu'wI' 'utlh -
l.cp＠web.de -
Lieven L. Litaer -
Will Martin