[201] in tlhIngan-Hol
Odds and Ends
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 19:20:16 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Allan C. Wechsler <ACW@YUKON.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1992 15:36-0500
In-Reply-To: <9202010839.AA23747@ima.ima.isc.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 1992 03:39 EST
From: krankor@IMA.ISC.COM (Captain Krankor)
In no particular order:
1) Fascinating that nuqneH was invented under duress. That makes sense :)
Yeah, the story Okrand told was that people on the set would stop him
and say, "Hey, say something in Klingon for my girlfriend," or something
like that, and he would say, "OK, what do you want me to say?" and
they'd invariably say, "Say `hello'." After explaining umpteen times
that Klingons don't say "hello", he broke down and invented nuqneH.
2) taH is not just the suffix and it does not mean 'to be'. It is given in
the new dict as a separate verb, meaning "continue, go on, endure". Thus,
we do *not* have any implied concept that we can just take any old suffix
and pretend its a verb -- it's more like other cases where we have a
suffix which is the same as a similar word, like -ta' and ta', or -laH
and laH.
New dict? Is there a "second edition" out? Too bad -- I just got all
the vocabulary from the first one typed in. Is there a change bar in
the margins?
3) I have rented some of the movies and gone through them with some care
to pick out the Klingon. [...]
Yes, but was there any new vocabulary or syntax?
4) I caught about half of the Okrand interview on NPR (had trouble finding
the right station). Interestingly enough, he addressed one of our discussio
n
topics: when asked at the end what a Klingon would say to end the
interview, Okrand replied that in fact, a Klingon wouldn't say anything, he
'd
just get up and leave-- and then he got up and left! {{:-) If anybody had
the foresight to record it, I, for one, would like a copy. Or a transcript.
From memory:
Interviewer [I think Alex Chadwick]: Can you give us an example of a
Klingon aphorism or saying, ...
Okrand: [starts to answer, but is interrupted by Chadwick continuing]
Chadwick: ... something that a Klingon might say at the end of an
interview?
Okrand: Oh. A Klingon wouldn't say anything at the end of an interview.
He'd just get up and leave. [Sound of papers shuffling, then a door
opens. Random hallway noise. Door slams.]
Chadwick: [to audience] Marc Okrand, world's foremost Klingonologist.
Here's an interesting question: Do Klingons sign their letters? Or do
they just stop writing?
My guess is that there is even less reason for a formal close to a
letter than to a conversation. I'd expect a typical business letter to
run:
I am so-and-so. Please explain the recent increase in the quoted price
of jargh. An immediate answer is required.
Perhaps an authenticating seal would be used.
