[84098] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: KCD IP set #1
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Wed Jan 30 12:42:55 2008
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:04:28 -0600
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
In-Reply-To: <f5b478ef0801291917n56558817j72e2ccb3b029ab19@mail.gmail.co
m>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Voragh:
> > I previously assumed this was {ghab} "meat from midsection of animal" plus
> > {'etlh} "sword, blade" since it's a gutting device, but now I wonder if
> > this should actually be {ghob'etlh} "blade of ethics/virtue"? As it's
> > "traditionally displayed in the {nuH bey'}, it would balance the {betleH}
> > or {batlh 'etlh} "blade/sword of honor". (Is it used in the ritual
> > {vItHay'} "truthtest" later in the game? That would explain why it's
> > displayed in an honored position in the house.)
qa'vaj:
>I wasn't paying attention when I wrote {ghab} (I was thinking {ghob}),
>it's definitely {ghob} by pronunciation. It sounds like "HHob'ek".
{ghob'etlh} it is then.
I should also have remembered the verb {ghob} "fight, do battle, make/wage
war" as well as the title of the famous statue of the brothers Kahless and
Morath also seen in KCD {ghobchuq loDnI'pu'} "The Brothers Battle One
Another". This would make perfect sense if the {ghob'etlh} is also used in
dueling or in some ritual, thus explaining why a mere "gutting device" is
so prominently displayed with the House's {betleH}.
Indeed, {ghob} is a loaded term for Klingons. For instance, the original
title of "The Klingon Way" was to have been {tlhIngan ghobmey paq} "The
Klingon Book of Virtues" and remember the proverbs:
pop 'oH ghob'e'
Virtue is the reward.
TKW 47: This proverb does not mean "Virtue is honor". The use of the word
{pop} suggests that virtue is the honor bestowed as a result of acting in a
manner respectful of society's values, not simply advocating them.
batlh ghob yIpab
Adhere to virtue honorably. TKW
TKW 47: The Klingon verb in the expression, {pab}, is here translated
adhere, but it is also used to mean follow, in the sense of following
rules, suggesting perhaps that, though not officially laws, virtues should
be followed as if they were.
ghob tIvnISbe'lu'
One need not enjoy virtue. TKW
P.S. BTW not "acting in a manner respectful of society's values" is
probably what "contemporary" god-less Klingons now mean by the verb {yem}
"sin", as I mentioned in the KCD5 thread IIRC.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
