How do I say... Toy?

There is no known word for "toy", but we know two words for "play": reH play (unstructured) and Quj play (a game), e.g. DaH ghew yIQuj "Play cricket now". (1)

Canon

From the Talk Now software, we know the word for teddy bear, mIl'oD ngeb, literally "fake sabre bear". So following that pattern, yIH ngeb, targh ngeb, etc. may work. It may be possible to use that word as well for other kinds of toys, like puH Duj ngeb "fake car".

Another word to consider is the word velqa' which means replica. It has been used in Monopoly for the minimized replica of the chancellor's cane.

A "ball" (e.g. as used in sports) has been translated in TNK as QujmeH moQ, literally "sphere for playing a game".

Suggestions

Members on the mailing list had several suggestions to convey the idea of a toy:(2)

David Trimboli suggested reHmeH jan device for playing. He added the word tu'HomI'raH something useless, although he said this not necessarily is a good word for a toy. It may be a good description if the toy really is useless. Sometimes, a toy may have educational purposes.

Felix Malmenbeck said that he might call a toy car a reHmeH puH Duj velqa', but drop the reHmeH if it's clear that one is talking about playing.

Alan Anderson added that he translates a "toy tricorder" as puq Hoqra'. His rendition of The Christmas Song substitutes QujmeH tepmey pov for "toys and goodies" (back-translated as "excellent playtime cargo").

References

1 : Radio Times interview, 1996

2 : several messages on the mailing list of March 2017

See also

• How Do I Say - other basic questions
• Portal Phrases