[Tlhingan-hol] A little bit from Maltz

[Lieven Litaer]

Okay, like I promised yesterday, here is Marc Okrand's Message:

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Subject:     A little bit from Maltz
Date:     Mon, 9 Jan 2012 01:06:14 -0500
From:     Marc Okrand
To:     Lieven Litaer

Lieven --

I'm a little late, but Happy New Year!

[...]

Second -- I've been able to get a little information out of Maltz.  Not 
everything -- I'll keep working on him.  But here's some of what you 
were asking about.

Words for "bricklayer," "roof maker," "plumber," and so on are all based 
on the verb mutlh, meaning "construct, assemble, put together."  Someone 
who does this, then, is a mutlhwI'.  Then specific duties can be specified:

bricklayer    ngogh mutlhwI'  (ngogh "brick") (so this is "brick 
assembler" or the like)

tiler             majyang mutlhwI' (majyang "tile")

roofer    beb mutlhwI' (beb "roof")

plumber    'och mutlhwI'  ('och "conduit")

electrician     'ul pat mutlhwI'   ('ul "electricity," pat "system")

The idea is that a mutlhwI' puts things together.  So a ngogh mutlhwI' 
is not (necessarily) someone who makes bricks, but someone who takes 
bricks that are already made and assembles them into something (such as 
a building).  Similarly, a beb mutlhwI' doesn't make the roof, but, 
rather, lays out the shingles or planks or stones or whatever the roof 
is made out of.

Regarding "plumber" -- It turns out there is a special word for "water 
pipe" (not what you use for smoking -- the kind that carries water from 
place to place): qatlhDa'.  Though one could say qatlhDa' mutlhwI' and 
be understood, the normal way to refer to someone putting in pipes (for 
water or anything else) is 'och mutlhwI'.

Someone who repairs any of these things (who may or may not be the same 
person who installed/assembled them) is a tI'wI' (tI' "repair").  Most 
mutlhwI'pu' are also tI'wI'pu' -- but you'd be advised to check with 
them first.

A carpet or a rug is tlhIm.  When you lay a carpet, you don't use the 
verb mutlh; the appropriate verb is vel ("cover, coat, mask").  One can 
say rav vel tlhIm ("the carpet covers the floor"). To to say "lay a 
carpet," one says "use a carpet to cover the floor," or rav velmeH tlhIm 
lo'.  The person who lays the carpet is a velwI' (literally "coverer, 
coater, masker").  You might think that the velwI' is the carpet 
itself.  That would make sense, but it doesn't work that way.  Maltz 
commented that Klingon rugs are primarily decorative.  The idea of a 
fabric floor covering being thick or soft was just bizarre to him.

If you did say tlhIm mutlh ("he/she assembled a carpet"),  that would 
mean there were pieces of fabric (or squares of carpet?) that got put 
together (sewn together?) to make a carpet or rug.

tlhIm is commonly used for a fabric wall hanging (that might, for 
example, have a picture of the Klingon emblem on it).  If a piece of 
cloth is displayed at the end of a pole, it is considered a joqwI' 
("flag"); a tlhIm covers some sort of surface.  Finally, tlhIm can also 
mean "blanket."  Maltz said that Klingons generally don't use blankets 
(he certainly doesn't), but he's seen them and, if you have to call them 
something, tlhIm is it.

Talking about blankets made Maltz think of bed and he suddenly got 
tired.  He said he'd work on the other words later on.  I hope that's okay.

Please say hello to Insa for me.

And thanks again for the qepHom!

All the best,

   - Marc