tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 19 10:52:58 1999
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Re: greetings
>From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
>Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:18:49 -0700
>
>jatlh S'Qal:
>
>>>>>>
>
>however, i have been thinking about a klingon name for myself.
>after a great deal of thought ;-) , i have come up with S'Qal.
>it is a 'transliteration' of my nickname, skull (but i used <Q> instead of
><q> cos i thought it looked better on paper).
>now, if i understand correctly, this would be pronounced something
>like "Sh-ih-krarl" with almost imperceptible pronunciation
>of the -ih-, yes?
>please correct me if i am wrong. i may change either the spelling or the
>whole name at a later date, particularly if i find out what
>the klingon word for 'skull' is (hint hint).
>
>>>>>>
>
>Well, your name does not quite match up with Klingon as we know it, but
>that's OK. The first syllable - <S'> - does not have a vowel. As you
>describe it, you're basically inserting a barely pronounced <I> between the
><S> and the <'>. You could write this as <SI'Qal>, but you could wind up
>getting a heavier <I> than you want. If you want a fairly exotic looking
>name, like something that came from one of the more culturally distinctive
>regions on Qo'noS, then <S'Qal> is pretty cool.
>
>Mark or charghwI' may be interested in commenting on the name thing as well.
>We'll see.
Since my name has been taken, let it not be in vain...
pagh basically said it. Nobody can say what you CAN have as a name, you
must make the decision. But make it knowing the circumstances. Know that,
so far as we understand the Klingon language, the consonant-cluster {S'Q}
cannot occur in any location, and certainly not at the beginning of a word
(no consonant cluster has ever been observed at the beginning of any
Klingon word). According to the usual rules of Klingon orthography, I
can't imagine how one could pronounce {S'Q} (or maybe how it could be
distinguished from {SQ}, which is also impermissible): ' is not a vowel,
even though people like to use it as a very short vowel in English. It's a
consonant.
All that said, it's your name. Nobody said you HAVE to stick to the rules,
and people will find some way to pronounce your name. trI'Qal had a
consonant cluster at the start of her name, and was our first BG. Maybe
your name is from some dialect whose phonology is different. Maybe you're
using a slightly different transcription for your name, in which ' can be a
vowel. It's up to you. But realize what rules you are keeping and what
rules you are breaking and decide what all that adds up to in terms of the
impression your name makes, and what you want to make of it.
Good luck!
~mark