[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: yItlhHa'

[Daniel Dadap]

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 17:48, Alan Anderson <qunchuy at alcaco.net> wrote:
> 
> I've seen (and heard) another Type 8 suffix used on a few occasions. It's not in any dictionaries, and it's possible that I'm the only one who noticed it. Its context has been similar to the use of a {bang pong}, and I will respect its users' privacy.

I imagine this is an idiolectical thing, and hasn’t been used in canon, but if it has been, could you please point out where? I don’t expect it would violate the privacy of others who have used it to identify where it’s been used in publicly available canon, if it has indeed been used in canon.

If it’s not canon I’m still intrigued by the idea of extra-canonical suffixes, so if users of this additional type 8 suffix you’re referring to choose to come out and describe it, I’d love to hear about it.

As for {bang pongmey}, I’ve often wondered how these are formed. We know they exist since there’s a word for them, but AFAIK we don’t know much about how to make or use them, apart from maybe using {-oy} or the additional type 8 you’ve referenced.

Are there conventions for deriving nicknames from full names? Simple shortenings like “Alex”, “Chris”, “Kate”, or “Pat”, suffixes with possible shortenings like “Andy”, “Davey”, “Jenny”, or “Missy”, rhymes and/or letter replacements with possible shortenings like “Bill”, “Bob”, “Dick”, or “Peg”? I’d especially be interested if there are some commonly known, not formulaically derivable nicknames like the Spanish language “Chuy” for “Jesús” or “Pepe” for “José”.

Or if {bang pongmey} aren’t based on names, what kind of imagery do Klingons favor for names of endearment? In English we seem to like sweet things: “honey”, “cupcake”, “sweety”, etc., it sometimes flora and fauna like “buttercup”, “bunny”, etc. Do Klingons endearingly call each other names of animals? Weapons? Foodstuffs? Furniture?

I suppose we’ll likely not get answers, but if anything like HQ or KGT ever gets started up again it would be an interesting topic to explore.