[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: ghe'tor

[Rohan Fenwick - QeS 'utlh]

ghItlhpu' qurgh, jatlh:
> Klingon word: ghe'tor
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: *Gre'thor* (where spirits of dishonored go)
> Source: KGT

jang De'vID, jatlh:
> This is in TKDA as {ghe''or} (with two adjacent glottal stops!), and
> it is pronounced that way on the Power Klingon tape too (in the curse
> {ghe''orDaq luSpet 'oH DaqlIj'e'}). Sources after this consistently
> use the {ghe'tor} spelling though.
> I'm not sure if the earlier spelling should be considered a mistake,
> or if they are two equally valid alternate spellings.

For my part I try to avoid tarring one form or another as a "mistake", even if it's probably pretty clear that's how it originated. Klingon is supposed to be naturalistic, and pairs like jorneb/jornub, naHjej/neHjej, and the like could be dialectic or simply idiolectic variation. I like the idea that Klingon would have variety along these lines - the Empire's too big to be culturally homogeneous, after all.

At any rate, we know from the paq'batlh that some instances of glottal stop in modern Klingon come from no' Hol /t/ - /tubba'lit/ for {tobbe'lu'}, for instance. The recently-revealed verb {rIt} "summon" is also suspiciously similar to {rI'} "hail" and I've wondered if {rIt} could be etymologised as a reborrowing from an older form of Klingon. Similarly, perhaps {ghe'tor} is an archaic-sounding form in Klingon, with {ghe''or} the more modern, or perhaps simply more casual, pronunciation. Who knows?

QeS
 		 	   		  
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