[Tlhingan-hol] lung

[SuStel]

On 6/21/2014 8:02 AM, De'vID wrote:
> André Müller:
>>>> We don't know how big Klingon gharghmey can be.
>
> De'vID:
>>> Actually, we do. The word {ghargh} originally referred to the giant
>>> worm- or serpent-like creature on the Genesis Planet which attacked
>>> and wrapped itself around Kruge. [...]
>>> So {ghargh} can, with no suffix, refer to something comparable in size
>>> to a Klingon.
>
> Gaerfindel:
>> {-'a'} means more than just size, though; even I, a mere beginner, know
>> that.
>
> Indeed. A {mIv'a'} might be much smaller than a {mIv}. A baby dragon,
> of the type described by SuStel, would be a {ghargh'a'} even if it's
> smaller than something else which is a {ghargh}.
>
> Gaerfindel:
>> My purpose in using {ghargh'a'} instead of just {ghargh} is partly
>> that Oberyn is know as the "Red Viper".  Vipers are so much more deadly that
>> other {gharghmey}, and deadly is a trait Klingons respect, no?

The -'a' does not connote deadliness or respect.

I think you're imagining something along the lines of Crocodile Dundee 
saying, "That's not a knife. THAT'S a knife." -'a' doesn't work like that.

> Are vipers actually more deadly than regular {gharghmey}? I think a
> Klingon would beg to differ. The {ghargh} that attacked Kruge would
> probably eat vipers for breakfast.
>
> I think if you want to emphasise that vipers are a venomous or
> particular deadly sort of snake, there are more appropriate tools than
> {-'a'}. {tar ghargh}, for example, or even {tar'a' ghargh}.

Exactly how you express this in Klingon depends on what's important to you.

Literally, "deadly serpent" would be {HeghmoHbogh ghargh}.

It's an "Earth snake" {tera' ghargh}.

You might call it a {tar ghargh} "poison-snake."

None of the above distinguish between a viper and another poisonous 
snake, however.

If the species is important, a Klingon might transliterate: *{vay'per}. 
But don't try that on this list without warning that you're transliterating!

As a cognomen or nickname that's supposed to connote deadliness, I'd 
probably go with {HeghmoHbogh ghargh Doq}, though it's a bit clumsier 
than "Red Viper." Otherwise, {tar ghargh Doq} trips better off the tongue.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/