Re: HuchQeD

[Steven Boozer <sboozer@midway.uchicago.edu>]

Quvar wrote:
>Hol yejHaD mu'mey chu' tetlhDaq jIlaD:
>
>"HuchQeD (n) economics [This is slang with no non-slang counterpart] [KGT 
>p148]"
>
>mu' ghoQ 'oH 'e' jatlh 'Iv??  KGT vIlaDDI' vIHarchoHbe'.  pa' ghItlhlu':
>
>"There is no slang counterpart [for chelwI'], though HuchQeD (lit. money 
>science) is often used for "economics"".

KGT (p.148) actually reads:

{chelwI'} "someone who deals in finances, accounting, etc."
"Mildly derogatory in its slang usage, this word literally means 'adder, 
one who adds'. There is no known non-slang counterpart, though {HuchQeD} 
(literally, 'money science') is often used for 'economics'."

>loQ jImIS.
>
>SKI: HuchQeD, slang or not?

As I read it, {HuchQeD} may not be slang {mu'mey ghoQ} per se.  It sounds 
like {HuchQeD} "is often used" because there is no standard word available.

One of the features of slang, as opposed to say colloquialisms, jargon or 
technical terms, is that it changes fairly rapidly.  In fact, Okrand tells 
us that {mu'mey ghoQ} (lit. "fresh words") are "mostly used by younger 
Klingons".  The young refer to standard Klingon as {mu'mey Doy'} "tired 
words", referring to older Klingons' tired, boring language. (Cf. KGT p.35.)

I bet {HuchQeD} is an example of what Okrand calls {mu'mey ru'} "temporary 
words, made-up words" which has "gained currency" or has slipped into 
colloquial, if not formal, Klingon:

   Sometimes words or phrases are coined for a specific occasion, intentionally
   violating grammatical rules in order to have an impact. Usually these are
   never heard again, though some gain currency and might as well be classified
   as slang. Klingon grammarians call such forms {mu'mey ru'} ("temporary 
words").
   Sometimes, {mu'mey ru'} fill a void--that is, give voice to an idea for 
which
   there is no standard (or even slang) expression; sometimes, like slang, they
   are just more emphatic ways of expressing an idea." (KGT p.176)

   Some speakers of Klingon never use such nonconformist constructions. 
Some use
   a few from a stock set." (KGT p.180)

N.B. "Sometimes, {mu'mey ru'} fill a void--that is, give voice to an idea 
for which there is no standard (or even slang) expression."

Okrand may be well be hinting that that Klingons don't have an extensive 
vocabulary to deal with economic and financial matters.  We know from DS9 
"House of Quark", for example, that {chelwI'pu'} are viewed with contempt 
by the ruling warrior caste.

OTOH, science officer Maltz may just be financially illiterate and doesn't 
know these words.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons