[Tlhingan-hol] nav qatwI' vs. nav vaH

[Lieven]

Last week there arose some questions why there seem to be two 
definitions for envelope:

{nav qatwI'} TalkNow

{nav vaH} qepHom 2015, p.18

I asked Okrand about this, and he first said "Why can't a thing have two 
words?" He later went into detail, saying that a {vaH} can be used for 
any kind of cover you use to put things in, for instance also a CD 
sleeve. The vaH is usally a finished piece of material. The word 
{qatwI'} is a more literal translation of the meaning "envelope". 
Sometimes you can look at an envelope and see how it's made: it's a 
piece of paper wrapping around something.

Next Okrand said that if there were a Klingon-Klingon dictionary, {nav 
qatwI'} would be a good description for a {nav vaH}.

-- 
Lieven L. Litaer
aka Quvar valer 'utlh
Grammarian of the KLI
http://www.facebook.com/Klingonteacher
http://www.klingonwiki.net