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

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, May 13, 2016
> 
> Klingon word: nguvmoH
> Part of speech: verb
> Definition: dye, stain, tint

  ret'aq nguvmoH
  He/she stains the knife handle.  (KGT)

(KGT 81-82):  Compared to Federation Standard, Klingon terminology associated with colors is rather limited. First of all, there is no noun meaning color. There is, however, a verb, {nguv}, which means something like "be dyed, stained, tinted", though it is seldom used except in the phrase {chay' nguv} ("How is [it] tinted?") or when suffixed with {-moH} ("cause") in the form {nguvmoH} ("dye, tint, stain"; that is, "cause to be dyed," etc.)--for example, {ret'aq nguvmoH} ("He/she stains the knife handle").

(KGT 80-81):  What the Federation would classify as a painting - that is, a {nagh beQ} featuring an image not carved into it but painted onto it - is made by applying {rItlh} (pigment, paint, dye) derived from either an animal or plant source. This may be done either by using fingers ({nItlhDu'}) or an implement called a {rItlh naQ} (pigment stick), a stick with flattened ends. The ends (sometimes referred to as the {nItlhpachDu'} [literally, fingernails]) are made in assorted sizes, making it possible to produce varied patterns. No doubt because of the phonetic similarity of the words {nItlh} (finger) and {rItlh} (pigment), the practice of applying pigment with fingers, and the habit of referring to the ends of pigment sticks as {nItlhpachDu'}, a pigment stick is also often called a {nItlh naQ} (literally, finger stick), though this term is used almost exclusively by the artisans themselves. The word {DIj} means "use a {rItlh naQ}, paint with a {rItlh naQ}" ... The verb {ngoH}, meaning "smear" in other contexts, is used for paint using fingers.


SEE ALSO:
DIj 		use a pigment stick, paint with pigment stick (v)
ngoH 		smear, paint using fingers (v)
ghItlh  	engrave, incise, mark, write (the physical act) (v)

rItlh 	pigment, paint, dye (n)
nItlh naQ  pigment stick (slang) (n)


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons