[Tlhingan-hol] birds (was Re: Klingon Bird-of-Prey Haynes Manual)

[Steven Boozer]

jaSwa':
>> I was under the impression from the beginning that qISa'ruj was
>> a type of bird, since "raptor" literally means "bird of prey."

De'vID:
> jISovchu'be'.  The word {qISa'ruj} comes from Klingon Monopoly, where
> it refers to a class of starship called the "raptor" in English.  In
> the Haynes manual, however, the same ship class is called {raptor}
> (spelled like that in {pIqaD}).  So it's not clear whether {raptor} is
> a Klingon word that just happens to sound somewhat like the English
> word "raptor" (much like how {Qo'noS} sounds sort of like "Kronos" to
> a human ear), or whether the ship class name refers to a  type or
> category of bird.

I wonder if "raptor" wasn't a place marker while the authors waited for a better word but got overlooked when they were doing the {pIqaD}?  

That being said, the {Somraw} - a small Klingon ship rescued from the atmosphere of a gas giant by the Enterprise in 2151 - was a "Raptor-class scoutship" with a crew of 12.  Apparently this is not the same as a Bird of Prey, which was also referred to in the episode: IIRC the Klingons were sending a BOP to investigate their stricken ship (ENT "Sleeping Targs").

For those looking for puns, {qISa'ruj} is "Jurassic" backwards (velociraptors were prominently feature in the movie "Jurassic Park")!

But working with what we've got... could {qISa'ruj} be Klingon for "raptor" as in a type of bird?  

For that matter, do we have any idea what B'rel {bI'rel} and K'Vort {qIvo'rIt} - the two known Bird-of-Prey {toQDuj} classes - mean, if anything?  Other birds?  Names of famous warriors?  Battles?


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons