[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: tIH

[Steven Boozer]

>> Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, December 12, 2011
>>
>> Klingon word:   tIH
>> Part of speech: noun
>> Definition:     shaft (of spear)

Philip:
> Homophonous with the noun {tIH} "ray" (TKD).
> 
> I'm guessing that the "ray" meaning may have originated as a
> metaphorical extension of the "spear shaft" meaning - the rays of
> (say) a star being considered like spears being sent out.

bIlughchu'.  KGT-Daq yIlaD:

KGT 65:  It may have been noticed that some of the terminology associated with spears is identical to that associated with modern weaponry, and certainly the vocabulary of spear-throwing was adapted for the newer technology. The meaning of {tIH}, originally shaft of a spear, was extended to include shaftlike energy--that is, beam or ray.

And while we're speaking of beams or rays:

KGT 56:  Technically speaking, one shoots the energy beam from the disruptor. The general word for any energy beam (ray) is {tIH}, so a disruptor's beam is {nISwI' tIH}. Thus, the correct formation is {nISwI' tIH bach} ("shoot the disruptor beam"). As a practical matter, however, the {tIH} is often left out, and {nISwI' bach} is the common way to say "shoot a disruptor".


Related verbs:
{tlhuD}        emit (energy, radiation)
{jol}          beam (aboard)

Related nouns:
{luHwI' tIH}   tractor beam
{nISwI' tIH}   disruptor beam
{jol}          transport beam
{'uD, 'uD'a'}  laser


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons