tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 23 14:02:59 2004

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Re: Direct quote of written statement

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Okrand:
>                                           ... suggests that the writer is
>     presenting some new information as opposed to merely passing something
>     along.  It may *also* imply that the written message has some sort of
>     literary merit, and thus be a compliment.

Dar'Qang:
>The 'also' is the key, I think.  I take it to mean that {qon} doesn't
>automatically imply literary merit.

But it does raise the possibility in the back of your mind.  Rather as if 
you referred to your hand-written letter home as a 
"manuscript".  Technically correct, but is smacks of literary pretension.

>I suspect that it's the use of {qon} for plays and stories that results in 
>the literary connotation, but I think
>it is a literary connotation for a word that still has non literary 
>usages.  Just my opinion, of course.
>
>Based on the remainder of the newsgroup message from Okrand that Voragh 
>posted, it appears that the literary connotation is heightened when you 
>use {gher} where you would normally expect {qon}, and vice versa.

Nope, it's the other way 'round.  Here's Okrand again:

   Saying {QIn qon} "he/she composes a message" or "he/she writes a message"
   (literally "he/she records a message") suggests that the writer is pre-
   senting some new information as opposed to merely passing something along.
   It may also imply that the written message has some sort of literary merit,
   and thus be a compliment. But not always. {HIDjolev qon} "he/she composes
   the menu" suggests that the speaker thinks the list of available fare is
   written with a certain literary flair. This is not likely to be said of
   menus in Klingon restaurants (whose menus, if posted at all, tend to be
   rather pithy), and thus could easily be taken as an insult. Similarly,
   something like {bom gher} "he/she formulates the song" would be taken as
   a disparaging comment about the song or its composer (and is, in fact,
   sometimes heard when the song in question is of non-Klingon origin).


>It's clear that there is a big, gray, squishy boundary between the two.

Indeed.  Let's let Okrand have the last word:

   This should help somewhat, but it will no doubt raise additional questions
   about usage.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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