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

[Steven Boozer]

Here’s what I have in my notes:

pemjep  midday (TKD),  middle of the day (st.k) (n)

  DaHjaj pemjep
  this midday, today in the middle of the day
 (lit. "today midday" or "today's midday") (st.k 6/29/1997)

DungluQ  noon (n) TKDA

  SuSvaj (at qep'a' loSDIch):
As {Dung} means “area above”, I had always asumed that {DungluQ} meant
 “high sun”. I asked Okrand if this was in fact the case, and if so could
  we infer that {luQ} meant “sun”. He flatly said “No you can't.” Apparently
 it is derived from {Dung}, but he did not have “high sun” in mind when he
 coined the word. In fact he said he created {DungluQ} before the Paramount
 writers came up with “high sun”, and he was even a little ticked at the
 writers for inferring “high sun".

  DaHjaj DungluQ
  this noon
(lit. "today noon" or "today's noon") st.k

DungluQ tIHIv. ngugh Qongbe' chaH
   Attack them at noon! They won't be sleeping then.
  (or: "Attack them at noon. They're not sleeping then.") (st.k 11/99)

FWIW {DungluQ} is the only one that has appeared in an actual sentence, as opposed to an example phrase.


pem  day,  daytime (n.)

 wa'maH cha' pemmey wa'maH cha' rammey je
  twelve days and twelve nights (KGT; idiom: "a long time")

KGT 121:  The word used for “days”, {pemmey}, is the plural form of {pem} (day, daytime), a word referring to the part of the day when it is light out (as opposed to {ram} [night]). Another word, {jaj} (day) refers to the full period from dawn to dawn.

KGT 206f.:  Thus, Federation Standard uses the single word “day” to refer to both a period of 24 Earth hours (generally reckoned from midnight to midnight) and to that part of the 24-hour period which is light (day as opposed to night). In Klingon, there are two distinct terms: {jaj} is the period from dawn to dawn; {pem} is that part of a {jaj} which is light (as opposed to {ram} [night]). Although Federation Standard also makes use of the locutions “daytime” and “nighttime”, when a speaker of Federation Standard is counting periods of daytime, only day is used. Thus, three days, with no further context, is ambiguous, for it can refer to three 24-hour periods (as in “They wandered for three days”) or three periods of daylight (as in “They wandered for three days and three nights”). In Klingon, {wej jajmey} means only three stretches from dawn to dawn; {wej pemmey} means “three periods of daylight” (as opposed to {wej rammey} [three nights]).

Related words:

ramjep    midnight (n)

 -  DaHjaj ramjep this midnight, tonight at midnight
     (lit. "today midnight" or "today's midnight") st.k

*{-jep} only appears in {pemjep} and {ramjep}. Note that *{ramjaj} (“mid-day” [i.e. the middle of the period from dawn to dawn] is not an option.  AFAIK Okrand has never discussed *{-jep} and we have no idea if it can be extended to longer periods:  e.g. ?*{ramHogh}, ?{ramjar}, ?{ramDIS}, etc.

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



From: Robyn Stewart [mailto:robyn at flyingstart.ca]
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 12:01 PM

wa’ poHHom ‘oH DungluQ’e’. qaStaHvIS rep puS, poH vIpermeH pemjep vIlo’laH.

From: David Trimboli [mailto:david at trimboli.name]
Sent: January 20, 2014 9:51

chay' pIm <noon> <midday> je?
________________________________
From: De'vID<mailto:de.vid.jonpin at gmail.com>
Sent: ‎1/‎20/‎2014 12:39 PM
KWOTD:
> Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, January 20, 2014
>
> Klingon word: pemjep
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: midday
> Source: TKD

pImchugh pemjep DungluQ je, chay' pIm?


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