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

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon word:   jajvam
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition:     today

Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam 
It is a good day to die. TKW

Language notes:

st.klingon (June 1997):  There don't seem to be special words for "the current year" and so forth comparable to {DaHjaj} "the current day" or "today". {DaHjaj} seems to be formed of the adverbial {DaH} "now" plus the noun {jaj} "day", a unique type of formation as far as I know. It is perhaps by analogy to {DISvam}, {jarvam}, etc. - all formed by simply adding a noun suffix to a noun - that Klingons also refer to the current day as {jajvam} "this day". Though they both can be translated "today", {DaHjaj} and {jajvam} are not quite interchangeable. As the time element in a sentence, {DaHjaj} (and not {jajvam}) is used: {DaHjaj romuluSngan vIHoHpu'} "Today I killed a Romulan". As the subject of a sentence, on the other hand, {jajvam} is more typically found: {nI' jajvam} "This day is long" though {DaHjaj} is not impossible: {nI' DaHjaj} "Today is long". {DaHjaj} also behaves as a noun (as opposed to an adverbial element) in such noun-noun constructions as {DaHjaj gheD} "today prey" or "today's prey", a term often heard in Klingon restaurants with a meaning comparable to "catch of the day". Phrases such as {jajvam po} "this day morning" or "this morning" are not common, but they're not ungrammatical either.



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons