2014-11-16

New Klingon Words from the 2014 qepHom

On 2014 11 15, Felix Malmenbeck provided this email from the 2014 German qepHom, with an initial list of possible new tlhIngan Hol words provided by Maltz, Marc Okrand's Klingon friend.

Here is the body of the email. Please note: these are currently unofficial. When they are finalised, you will get them here.



Going by previous years, I think it's safe to assume that the qepHom folks are teasing us a bit now, and will be releasing Okrand's exact words within a few days.

Personally, I find this rather enjoyable (giving the info in bits and pieces gives us something to look forward to), but I agree that there's a point to making everything accessible, so let's see if we can summarize what's been learned:

== Card games ==


Maltz has been learning about the card game "poker". He is under the impression that this game's name literally means "that which pokes", and therefore calls it {'urghwI'}.
Here he makes use of a new word, {'urgh}, meaning "poke" or "jab".

Since this is a Terran game, there aren't necessarily Klingon words for the different aspects of the games, but Maltz seems to be able to relate to the game through Klingon analogues.
He refers to the diamonds as {meyrI'mey} ("squares"), the hearts as {pormey} ("leaves"), and the clubs {Sormey} ("trees").
Note that none of these are new words; they're just being used in a new way.

He couldn't think of a good word for the spades, so he simply "calls a spade {'eSpeD}".
{'eSpeD} is a new word, but it seems to just be a phonetic approximation that Maltz made up for "a spade", so most Klingons probably wouldn't recognize this word.

== Geometry ==


Earlier this year, we received a lot of new terminology relating to geometry (something which several people have been requesting for a long time):
http://www.qephom.de/e/klingon_geometry.html

Now, it seems Maltz has given us some further information, particularly relating to angles.

First some information on regular (or "perfect") polygons:

We previously knew that a perfect/regular triangle was called {ra'Duch tIQ} ("ancient triangle"), but the word {tIQ} is not used when describing most other shapes.

If a polygon is equilateral and equiangular (that is, all of its sides have the same length and all of its corners have the same angle), it is said to be {HoS} ("strong"). (At least that's how I'm reading the message. Another interpretation could be that HoS is a noun meaning "regular polygon", but the info about {puj} below makes me find that less likely.)
Not sure if this would apply to stars, or only to convex polygons.

We previously had informaiton about referring to perfect and isosceles triangles. If a triangle is neither perfect nor isosceles, it is said to be {puj} ("weak").
(Does this also refer to other polygons? Does {mey' puj} mean "irregular polygon"?)

Regarding angles:

Klingons measure angles in a unit called {lawrI'}, which is equal to a degree.
However, this is a new unit (perhaps adopted to better understand Federation technology?); in the days of old, Klingons used a different angle unit called a {law}, which is equal to 40/27 degrees (or about 1.481°).
A full circle (360 degrees) has 243 {law}.
243 = 3*3*3*3*3, so it's easy to divide by 3, 9, 27 and 81.

A right angle has 90 {lawrI'}, or 60.75 {law}. A right angle is apparently called {tajvaj leD}, where {leD} is a new verb which appears to mean "be right-angled" or "be perpendicular".
It can apparently also be used when referring to surfaces. Maltz used the sentence {leD rav tlhoy' je.}, presumably meaning "The floor and the wall are perpendicular to each other."

It seems that an acute angle (one less than 90 degrees) is called a {tajvajHom}, while an obtuse, straight or reflex angle (that is, one more than 90 degrees) is called a {tajvaj'a'}.

According to the message, both polygons (mey') and stars (DujtlhuQ) have {QIn} ("spearhead(s)"). I'm assuming this is a word for "corner"?
(It's worth noting that stars and star-shaped polygons are also polygons. Of course, whether or not they are mey' is another issue.)

We also got a new word, {yergh}, which apparently means "solid (3D) shape" or, possibly, "polyhedron".

So, as far as I can tell, the new vocabulary so far is (with speculative glosses):

{'urgh} - "jab, poke"
*'eSpeD* - "a spade" (phonetic approximation made up by Maltz?)

{HoS} – used to describe regular polygons
{puj} – used to describe non-isosceles triangles
{lawrI'} – new angular unit, equal to one degree
{law} – old angular unit, equal to 40/27 degrees
{leD} – "be perpendicular, be at a right angle" (?)

{tajvajHom} – acute angle ?
{tajvaj'a'} – angle greater than 90 degrees ?
{QIn} – corner ?

{yergh} – solid shape (polyhedron?)

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