tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 02 11:35:36 1998

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Re: What's in a Name (was: Beginner's questions)

: I didn't realize the list of names using  Q or Qo to make the "kr" sound was
: so extensive.  I was aware of some of your examples when I was choosing the
: name,  but I also thought I saw a word that  had "qr" in it (somewhere in the
: middle of the word). Of course, now when I try to use it as an example, I
: can't find it. 

You're probably thinking of {valQIS} Valkris.  {qoreQ} Korax is another
example to add to that list -- note how final /Q/ is heard by Earthers.
Since /Q/ isn't used in English, it is frequently mis-heard and transcribed
a variety of ways.

: I really was trying to avoid a name that was pronounced so differently from
: tlhIngan Hol to DIvI' Hol.  The Qo sound for "kr" strikes as me as a bit of a
: stretch. If you went up to someone unfamiliar with tlhIngan Hol and, in your
: best tlhIngan, pronounced Qo'nos and then asked them to spell what you just
: said, I don't think Kronos is what they would come up with. One could always
: say that the first terrans misprounced the name of the Qo'nos and that the
: incorrect pronounciation stuck before it could be corrected. As for other

No doubt the Feds heard {Qo'} as /kro/ or, at least, that's how someone
chose to write it down the first time, and the spelling stuck even as
knowledge of the Klingon language became more common within the Federation.
A correctly pronounced, rasped Klingon /Q/ followed by a vowel at the
beginning of a word is often heard as /kr-/ by "Federation Standard"
speakers in the 23rd and 24th centuries.  Take it as part of the Trek universe.

: names, I can't imagine Klingons adding the "r" sound into their names just so
: its easier for terrans to speak it. The thought of someone like Qugh adding
: the "r" into his name to make it easier for tera'nganpu' to pronounce strikes
: me as funny.

Agreed.  But Qugh didn't spell his name with an "r", the Feds do when they
talk about that renegade "Kruge".  They're simply alternate spellings used
by different groups of Feds: linguists and everyone else.  Don't forget that
the the transcription of Klingon we use on this listserv is that of a
Federation linguist named Okrand and is not used by the Klingons themselves.
We have no idea how Klingons render their names in piqaD and, if it's up to
Paramount, likely never will.
 
: qronaH (for now anyway)

Voragh

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