tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 14 13:37:24 1998
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Re: FAQ question and proper names
Erik Johnson (eriQ' - for the moment) wrote:
: >The list server autoreponse mentioned a FAQ can be located at
:
><http://www.thomtech.com/%7Edspeers/klingon/faq.htm>http://www.thomtech.com
/~dspeers/klingon/faq.htm however this page has been
: >moved, and the new site listed does not seem to exist. My question is: does
: >this FAQ exist in another location? I would like to read it through before
: >posting any more questions.
As the FAQ maintaner Holtej (whose name means "linguist", or "language
scientist") mentioned, the site is temporarily down for maintenance. Try
it in
another day or two. In the meantime, here are a few suggestions for you to
consider.
: >Also, I posted a question about proper nouns (names) to a Klingon
: >newsgroup, and was kindly answered by Kronos (thanks) that common names,
: >such as Erik, be translated literally into Klingon (eriQ'). I am also
: >noticing other's Klingon names, and that they seem to actually "mean"
: >something. Is there a process that is followed to develop a Klingon name,
: >or are most of them really just phonic (if that's the right word)
: >translations of the spelling.
To "translate" your name is to take the meaning of your name and render it
using Klingon vocabulary. For example, "Michael" is derived from the Hebrew
(and ultimately from the Canaanite) *mi-ka-'El* "Who is like El" (one of God's
names, which was originally one of the Canaanite gods). This would become
{*'el rur 'Iv} as a Klingon sentence, or *{'elrur'Iv} compressed as a name.
My
own real life name, Steven, is derived from the Greek *stephanos* or "crown",
which would become {ta' mIv} (lit. "the emperor's helmet") in {ta' Hol}, or
Standard Klingon - lit. "emperor's language", i.e. the Klingon dialect spoken
by the currently reigning emperor, rather like the "Queen's English".
To write one's Terran name phonetically using Okrand's orthography for
tlhIngan
Hol or from one writing system to another, such as English language Roman
script to Russian Cyrillic or to Japanese katakana or hiragana - or from
Okrand's own Roman-based Federation orthography to the native Klingon system,
pIqaD - is called "transcribing". This is what it seems you're trying to
do by
rendering "Erik" as {eriQ'}.
DloraH responded:
: eriQ' doesn't follow ta' Hol, what is considered "proper" klingon;
For two basic reasons: in Okrandian Klingon 1) words do not begin with a
bare
vowel, but are preceeded by the consonant /'/ which is audibly pronounced; and
2) word final /Q'/ without any following or intervening vowel is
unpronounceable, even by Klingons (I think).
Again, /'/ is a separate, fully enunciated consonant in Klingon - the glottal
stop, described in the first chapter of TKD on pronunciation - and not merely
decorative (e.g. top'pah, pah'tak, B'Elanna, B'Etor), or representing a schewa
semi-vowel (e.g. B'rel, K'Vort) as it seems to be for the Paramount writing
staff.
BTW, capital /Q/ in Klingon is a VERY strong sound - sort of like a voiced and
gargled version of /H/ - which is often transliterated by /kr/ in English:
e.g.
{Qugh} "Kruge". The lower case /q/ generally corresponds to the English /k/,
though properly it's enunciated further back in the throat, rather like an
Arabic *quf*: e.g. {martaq} "Martok".
: But many people don't hold names to the rules.
: (Even my own isn't proper klingon)
Hint: read DloraH's Klingon name backwards.
: If you want to keep the sound of your name (in ta' Hol) you could try:
: 'erIq
Use this version if you want the name to be strongly stressed on the first
syllable: E-rik.
: 'errIq
Use this version if you want the name to be stressed more or less uniformly,
with a slight emphasis on the first syllable, and a double /r/: ER-rik.
: 'er'Iq
Use this version if you want the name to be strongly stressed on the last
syllable: er-IK. Don't forget to clearly enunciate those /'/s.
If all you want to do is transcribe your employees' names in Okrandian
orthography - and not actually translate their meanings, when known, into
Klingon - Okrand has provided a few examples of transcribed Terran names which
you can use for a model:
HenrI' Henry
(cf. {HenrI' vagh} "Henry V", the play by Shakespeare)
'antonI' Anthony
tlhI'yopatra' Cleopatra
(both from {'antonI' tlhI'yopatra' je} "Anthony and Cleopatra"
[the original Klingon version of the play])
Day Di (i.e. {Day joH} "Lady Di" of the UK)
barbara' ma'rIch Barbara March
bIl jo'rIj Bill George
ghuwI'nItlh wa'lIS Gwynyth Walsh
jan kalI'qoS John Colicos
janluq pIqarD Jean-Luc Picard
mayqel 'anSa'ra Michael Ansara
mayqel Do'rIn Michael Dorn
nIylo roDIS Nilo Rodis
rabe'rIt 'o'raylIy Robert O'Reilly
raqSan bIQ-DawSon Roxann Biggs-Dawson
Hope this helps until the FAQ becomes accessible once again,
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
P.S. my own name is just a Paramount-style "Klingon" name that doesn't mean
anything - that we know of. I just liked the sound of it.