[86312] in tlhIngan-Hol
RE: 'oQqar pe'pu'bogh; naQHommey rur ghIq mIQpu'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Mon Jul 27 11:40:12 2009
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "'tlhingan-hol@kli.org'" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:37:49 -0500
In-Reply-To: <4A6D076C.40500@trimboli.name>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
qe'San (Jon Brown) wrote:
>> What I'd like to know is, does anyone understand my following sentence:
>> 'oQqar pe'pu'bogh; naQHommey rur. ghIq mIQpu'
SuStel:
> naQHommey means "minor sticks," whatever those are. -Hom does not mean
> "small."
SuStel is right in that we shouldn't automatically prefer it to {mach} "be small", but {-Hom} can mean "small" or "little" in some contexts:
KGT 74-5: The general term for a percussion instrument of any kind is {'In}. [...] Other members of this group of instruments are hit with a stick of some kind. The stick often resembles a small hammer; when it does, it is termed {mupwI'Hom} (literally, "small striker"). A plain stick is a {naQHom} (literally, "small cane" or "small staff").
KGT 152: ... its slang usage is no doubt influenced by the noun suffix {-Hom}, a diminutive that adds a meaning of smallness or lack of importance (compare {taj} ["knife"] and {tajHom} ["little knife", the extra small blade in the handle of a d'k tahg knife]).
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons
