[158] in tlhIngan-Hol
Odds and Ends
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 19:18:11 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: krankor@IMA.ISC.COM (Captain Krankor)
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 17:34:47 -0500
First, some more on hello and goodbye. I think there's more going on here
than just a terran/english bias towards having greetings. I think the very
culture of being Klingon speakers encourages the use of such things. If you
go somewhere and see someone wearing a Klingon costume or a Klingon pin or
something, you wanna probe them and see if they speak the language, so
you try to start up a conversation, without really having much to say to
them. So nuqneH becomes the natural thing to say; 1) It's easy, so you don't
have to think out a whole big Klingon sentence 2) It's a polite way to
start talking to a stranger 3) Because it's easy, there's a fair chance that
the other person will understand it, even if they only know a smidgeon
of Klingon.
Similarly, saying Qapla' as a farewell works well. Again, it's easy, most
people will understand it (most people in any kind of Klingon context, that
is), and it establishes a common bond of Klingonness. When I was at KlinKon,
I found that, though nobody really spoke the language very well at all,
still they all used Qapla' regularly. And it really seemed to work in that
context. My take, then, would be that you might use Qapla' with another
Klingon, but much less frequently with a terran or romulan or something.
It seems clear that Qapla' still carries its literal meaning of 'success',
unlike nuqneH. So in short, what I'm saying is that, yes, 'real' Klingons
just get to the point and all, but on the meta-level, we human Klingon
speakers and Klingon role-players have significant use for such openings
and closings.
However, there is certainly no obligation to use them. If you don't feel
comfortable with nuqneH, don't use it.
qaleghneS seems pretty formal, something you would use on a superior, or
an acquaintance or something, but not on a close friend or relative.
As for the 'see you later' thing, I would do it like this: tugh qaleghqa'
Or maybe better: tugh maghomqa'
Or even: tugh maghomqa'jaj
As I think about it, a good case could be made for simply: tugh maghom
It doesn't carry as much content, but the basic idea is there and it is
short and rolls off the tongue rather nicely. tugh maghom as a shortened
version of tugh maghomqa'jaj, in the same way as "see ya'" as a shortened
version of "I will see you later". I like it {{:-)
As far as names go: a name is just a name, I don't think it matters that
much. If someone wants to call themself marq, (I think marQ would be more
interesting {{;-), I have no problem with it. I will agree, though, that it
would be good if we could have unique names, at least for the fairly active
people, just so we know who's who.
--Krankor
