[Tlhingan-hol] 'aDDu'

[qov at kli.org]

The question was mine, asked at the recent qep'a'.   (You know the frequency and severity with which I wound the characters in my stories. I needed some more precision). I know that in common usage, all blood vessels are "veins"  and suspected that Maltz and/or Marc was using the word that way.  I specifically asked for clarification of 'aD, to confirm that it represented all blood vessels. To me, the response confirms that 'aD matches the colloquial use of "vein" while paw'aD matches the more precise term. 

wa'maH Hut ben paw'aDDu'wIjDaq letchoHmo' 'IwwIj chaq jIpIm 'ach jIHvaD qubHa' mej'aD'a', mej'aD motlh mej'aDHom je.  'a <major artery> rurmo' <mej'aD>, mu'vetlh wIvchugh 'oqranD, mumerbe'. bItu'mo' qanaD. pIj valqu' 'oqranD. muyay'moH <runpI'>.  nabchu'ta''a' jay'?

It appears from the chronology below that in English the word "vein" originally designated both inbound and outbound vessels, and that the generic "blood vessel" arose about the same time as the distinguishing "artery."  Check the note after the etymology of artery!  If Klingons discovered and named these things in the same order as humans, perhaps they had an older term for artery which was discarded when they realized that it was actually a mejmeH 'aD.

artery (n.) 
    late 14c., from Anglo-French arterie, Old French artaire (13c.; Modern French artère), and directly from Latin arteria, from Greek arteria "windpipe," also "an artery," as distinct from a vein; related to aeirein "to raise" (see aorta).

They were regarded by the ancients as air ducts because the arteries do not contain blood after death; medieval writers took them for the channels of the "vital spirits," and 16c. senses of artery in English include "trachea, windpipe." The word is used in reference to artery-like systems of major rivers from 1805; of railways from 1850.

vein (n.) 
    c. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin.

vessel (n.) 
    c. 1300, "container," from Old French vessel "container, receptacle, barrel; ship" (12c., Modern French vaisseau) from Late Latin vascellum "small vase or urn," also "a ship," alteration of Latin vasculum, diminutive of vas "vessel." Sense of "ship, boat" is found in English from early 14c. "The association between hollow utensils and boats appears in all languages" [Weekley]. Meaning "canal or duct of the body" (especially for carrying blood) is attested from late 14c.

- Qov



-----Original Message-----
From: lojmIt tI'wI' nuv 'utlh [mailto:lojmitti7wi7nuv at gmail.com] 
Sent: November 7, 2015 19:19
To: Klingon language email discussion forum
Subject: [Tlhingan-hol] 'aDDu'

Given that we were earlier given the word {‘aD} meaning “vein” and more recently, we’re told that {paw’aD} is “vein” and {mej’aD} is “artery”, does this suggest that {‘aD} more accurately is a generic word for “blood vessel”? Also, does anyone else think that {mej’aD} sounds a lot like “major artery”, which is the only kind of artery I’ve ever heard anyone mention?

I mean, so many wounds “just missed a major artery”, or people die because somebody cut one.

lojmIt tI’wI’ nuv ‘utlh
Door Repair Guy, Retired Honorably




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