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

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon word:   tay
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition:     ceremony, rite, ritual

Never used by itself in a sentence, but {tay} does appear in many compounds:

chontay 		ritual hunt (n)
Heghtay 		Death Ritual (n)
muvtay 		initiation (n)
nentay 		Rite of Ascension (n)
qutluch tay 	Kut'luch Ceremony (n)
ruStay 		R'uustai, bonding ritual (n)
tayqeq  		civilization (n)

Others on the List have suggested:

*Darghtay 	Tea Ceremony (?)
*majQa' tay  	Rite of MajQa (?)
*naltay  		mating ritual (?)
*ngaghtay 	mating ritual (?)
*tlhoghtay  	wedding, marriage ceremony (?)

Cultural notes:
 
KGT 11:  While the conventional phrases used in some rituals are uttered in modern Klingon (such as those used in the Rite of Ascension, a ceremony symbolizing a young Klingon's attainment of a certain spiritual level), those used in a great many others are in a form of {no' Hol} (such as those associated with the {bIreqtal} [brek'tal], the ceremony in which the killer of the leader of a Klingon house marries the widow and thereby becomes the head of the house himself). In these cases, the phrases must be studied and memorized by the participants, then repeated back accurately. Improvising or paraphrasing is entirely inappropriate. Depending on when the phrases for the ritual originated, the words and grammatical constructions may be somewhat like or very different from those of modern Klingon.

KGT 133:  Younger Klingons, while accepting their heritage and observing the ancient rites, see some aspects of their elders' behavior and beliefs as, if not obsolete, then just old-fashioned.

Apparently the idiom is {tay lop} "observe/celebrate a ritual":

  Heghtay lulop latlh tlhInganpu'. Heghtay luloptaHvIS chaH chaq bey SeQ lujach 
  other Klingons may perform a ceremonial howl or yell as part of the Klingon death ritual. S31

  nentay loptaHvIS tlhIngan potlh tlhIngan 'oy'naQ'e' 
  The Klingon Painstik is an important part of a Klingon's Age of Ascension ceremony. S32

Related words:

lop  	celebration (n)
lop 		observe, celebrate (a ritual) (v)
SeQ 		be formal/ritualistic/ceremonial (v)
SeQHa'  	be informal (v)
tay  	be civilized (v)
taymoH  	civilize (v)


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons