tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Oct 23 14:36:22 1998
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
RE: KLBC nuqneH
>
> ><Qapla'> means "success". You can find it in the main Klingon-English
> [snip]
> >their conversations by stating their business, and when they are finished,
> >they leave.
> [snip]
> >Marc Okrand has talked about this a bit in the startrek.klingon forum. I
> >don't have the post handy, but I will see if I can find it tonight.
>
> Didn't Marc mention this in a British radio interview, or something...
> When they asked how do klingons say goodbye, he simply walked out of the
> room.
>
> DloraH
I have it. It was an early interview on National Public Radio, from about the
time "Conversational Klingon" was released. From the NPR transcript:
A: {Qapla'} means 'success', which has become used as a general hail ...
[snip]
Q: Well, we have to wrap this up now. Tell me, Dr Okrand, how does a
Klingon say goodbye?
A: He doesn't. When he's finished his business he just leaves
(sound of chair scraping across floor, sound of footsteps walking away,
sound of door opening, a few more footsteps, door closing).
Okrand on {Qapla'} elsewhere:
"The common Klingon sendoff, {Qapla'}, 'success', is another overt signal of
this warrior spirit: success is always possible." (TKW p.49)
"Under most circumstances, a Klingon would never literally say 'farewell' or
'good-bye' upon taking his leave; he would simply walk away. If, however, he
wanted to show honor or respect, he may offer a salute, often verbalized as
{Qapla'} (success)." (TKW p.83)
At a convention in Halifax, Okrand said that {nuqneH} and {Qapla'} were
equally
acceptable: you'd use {Qapla'} when greeting great warriors, but the general
greeting would be {nuqneH} (via jejQIb, 10/96).
{Qapla'} "does not mean the same thing as goodbye" but is used as a sort of
salute as warriors go off to battle. (KCD)
Okrand himself uses {Qapla'} as a closing salutation at the end of the
Introduction to TKW, the Introduction to KGT, and often at the end of his
letters on the Expert Forum BBS.
And finally, {Qapla'} in the corpus:
Qapla' jawwI' bangwI' je.
Success my lord and my love. ST3
jolpa' yIjaH. Qapla'!
To the transport room. Success! ST3
Qapla'!
Success! ST5
Gowron greets his crew as he enters the bridge of his BoP:
Qapla'!
Greetings! (subtitles in Hallmark commercial)
_________________________________________________________________________
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)