tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Aug 20 18:39:02 2000
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RE: Greetings and goodbyes in tlhIngan
- From: Eric Andeen <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Greetings and goodbyes in tlhIngan
- Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 18:38:35 -0700
Welcome to the list, Eliza. My name is pagh, and I am the current Beginners'
Grammarian for the list. Whenever you have a post you want help with, mark
it with a KLBC in the subject line, and I will respond (hopefully more
quickly than this time).
Eliza:
> Hello,
>
> This is first time I write a mail to this list (sorry for any
> mistakes in my English). I have question about greetings and
> goodbyes in tlhIngan. What is the best way to say "hello" and
> "goodbye"? In Okrand's dictionary I found, that nuqneH is used
> as greeting and Qapla' (and many famous Klingon sentences like
> "batlh bIHeghjaj") is used as "goodbye".
>
> And now I ask:
> 1. Are there other expressions which I may say instead "nuqneH"
> (but not like "'Iw jaj qar'a'" :) )
> If yes, which one is the best, or the most "canonical"?
> 2. Is there any "canonical" word (or expression) for "goodbye"?
> 3. Can I use "Qapla'" as "hello", and what is better (more
> traditional or more "canonical") - Qapla' or nuqneH?
Klingon doesn't really *have* greetings or goodbyes. Okrand calls <nuqneH>
the *only* Klingon greeting, and it's really only appropriate as a response
to someone else. There really is no way to say "hello" or "goodbye". Instead
of "hello", just state your business, or say nothing at all. In English (and
most other Earth languages), greetings are considered polite, but to
Klingons, greetings are considered a waste of time, and possibly a sign of
untrustworthiness. The polite thing is to be direct and get to the point.
<Qapla'> can often be used where we might say "goodbye" in English, but it's
really more like "good luck". It literally means "success", and when used
like this it is meant to wish success in some endeavor. If I spoke Klingon
in my everyday life, I'd say <Qapla'> when I dropped my wife off at the
airport to go to a conference where she was giving a presentation, but I
wouldn't say anything at all to my brother who just went on vacation.
pagh
Beginner's Grammarian