[153] in tlhIngan-Hol
Greetings
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 19:17:56 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: mark@cc.gatech.edu (Mark J. Reed)
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 9:08:52 EST
My impression from the Dictionary about greetings was the same as Kevin's.
Klingons just don't say "hello" and "good-bye". However, as English speakers
raised in a different culture, we feel compelled to use such phrases.
"nuqneH" may not be the literal "nuq DaneH" or "nuq boneH", but it still *feels
*
wrong as a conversation initiator. We should probably practice avoiding such
phrases in tlhIngan Hol, but there's a lot of cultural baggage to get over.
What I usually use when I want to greet someone is "[qS]aleghneS". Thi
s
is probably not something you will hear one Klingon say to another very often,
but I like it for two reasons. First of all, it more accurately represents wha
t
we use greetings for - more or less an acknowledgement of the other's presence.
Secondly, there's a canonical example: it's how Riker greeted K'eylehr in the
TNG episode "The Emissary". As for good-bye, I usually use "[qS]aleghtaH",
which I translate (in context) as "be seeing you" (makes circle with thumb and
forefinger and gestures away from eye :-). Interestingly enough, Klingon (at
least the dictionary) doesn't seem to have any words for referring to an
indefinite period in the future - e.g. "later", "future", etc. "Tomorrow" and
"next year" and "at three o'clock" can be done, but if it's vague, forget it.
Not sure if this is an oversight or a cultural insight...
--
Mark J. Reed College of Computing Technical Support
<mark@cc.gatech.edu> Georgia Institute of Technology
