[2471] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Meaning of nuqneH
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Jan 7 10:19:05 1994
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
From: Mark Reed <Mark.Reed@cad.gatech.edu>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 10:19:27 -0500 (EST)
In-Reply-To: <9401071448.AA20699@kla.com> from "Matt Gomes" at Jan 7, 94 06:49:
35 am
This has come up before - what to do with nuqneH? We're told that
Klingons don't use greetings at all - they start out by saying what they
have to say, and when they're done, they leave. No intermediate steps, unless
dictated by military protocol. But then we're told that they have something
"close" to a greeting. What do we do with it?
We know Marc Okrand only created "nuqneH" because he was tired of having
to explain all of the above every time someone asked him how to say "Hello"
in Klingon, which was apparently the most popular question directed at him
at the time. But this fact has little bearing in the reality that has
Klingons as a real civilization with a real language, and us as students
trying to understand it.
I suspect that nuqneH "really" is a creation for the benefit of Klingons
interacting with Terrans. Terrans would go up to a Klingon and expect them
to say something by way of greetings. After waiting for a Terran to
speak, some Klingon got exasperated and asked him "nuq neH?" (using
Clipped Klingon, obviously). This got adopted into the vocabulary as a
"greeting" for use with silly Terrans who can't just say what's on
their mind.
So I'd say that starting a conversation with "nuqneH" isn't necessarily wrong.
A Klingon would be unlikely to do it when talking to another Klingon, but
it's probably common between a Klingon and a Terran, no matter who speaks
first - the Terran says it because he feels a need to say something by way
of greeting, the Klingon because he knows the Terran won't say anything until
he gets that acknowledgement. In the adopted usage, the word "nuqneH"
doesn't literally mean "what do you want", any more than common Terran
greetings literally mean what they seem to. "nuqneH" exists to fill a void in
Klingon-Human interaction.
This is all, of course, IMESHO.
-marqoS
