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

[Rohan Fenwick]

ghItlhpu' qurgh, jatlhpu':
> nujwIjDaq HIvje'vo' HIq vIqang
> I pour the alcohol (away) from the cup to my mouth (To my mouth, away from
> the cup, I pour the alcohol)

I have absolutely no problem with either the grammar of this sentence or the sense it intends to convey: "I pour alcohol into my mouth from the cup".

jangpu' ghunchu'wI', jatlhpu':
> I'd accept that, but just barely. In KGT, {qang} is said to mean "pour
> into", which to me seems to imply transfer from one container to
> another.

It's not an implication at all. That's the exact definition in the KGT wordlist: "pour (from one container into another)" (KGT p.223). But for my part I don't see anything wrong with identifying the mouth as the receiving container or receptacle, broadly construed.

jatlhtaH ghunchu'wI':
> The related term {lIch} (approximately "pour out") might be
> more appropriate.

jang je SuStel, jatlh:
> Where does the definition "approximately 'pour out'" come from? KGT has 
> "pour (into/onto anything)" and I'm not sure where else the word has 
> been used.

I thought the exact same thing. The nature of the distinction between {qang} and {lIch} has been nowhere reported in canon AFAIK and {lIch} "pour (into/onto anything)" is unattested outside of the wordlists. Hell, we don't even know if the subject of {lIch} should be a person ("she poured tea into the cup"?) or a liquid ("rain poured off the edges of the roof"?). The KGT entries discussing {qang} make no mention of {lIch} as a possible synonym (despite including {lIch} explicitly in the wordlist), and KGT is normally pretty good with that, which makes me mildly suspicious.

QeS 'utlh
 		 	   		  
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