<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/9/2019 10:44 PM, Will Martin
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:51CA87C6-2AF0-4327-BFBE-B527D46CB2B4@mac.com">I think
that clipped Klingon is most appropriate when there is urgency to
the message, as in battle. If someone says {nuqDaq puchpa’}, then
point to the bathroom and get out of the way.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I don’t see {nuq mI’lIj} as obviously urgent, unless shouted
by a suspicious guard pointing the unfriendly end of a nasty
weapon at you. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In other settings, I’d just consider it poor grammar spoken
by an illiterate, uneducated, backwoods peasant, or maybe a
local who is speaking loud and slow for a tourist he considers
an idiot who has to look up every word in a guidebook. </div>
</blockquote>
<p>We have quite extensive information about when to use Clipped
Klingon.</p>
<p><i>The Klingon Dictionary</i> describes Clipped Klingon as a form
of day-to-day language, as opposed to the language taught formally
to non-Klingons. It says it is used frequently in military
contexts where quick communication is needed. It says Clipped
Klingon is also used extensively in all other contexts, implicitly
linking the Klingon lifestyle to military matters.</p>
<p><i>Power Klingon</i> tells us that the prevailing form of speech
during battles is Clipped Klingon. It recommends using Clipped
Klingon in everyday speech to show an allegiance to military
jargon. It can also be used to express urgency.</p>
<p><i>Klingon for the Galactic Traveler</i> tells us that a bat'leth
instructor will generally issue commands in Clipped Klingon. It
describes some rituals that use clipped words in them. It again
describes how Clipped Klingon is used in battle situations, and
adds contexts in which standard phrases are expected to be heard.
It says that because you may not be able to properly interpret
Clipped Klingon if you don't already know what the phrase is
supposed to say, its use is typically only found in such times. It
describes times when Clipped Klingon would be inappropriate, such
as ordering a drink at a bar if your desired drink isn't already
known. It illustrates switching from Clipped Klingon to full
Klingon to express annoyance and to challenge one's honor. We're
told that Clipped Klingon is often used in song lyrics, partly to
fit the meter, partly because songs are often associated with
battle, and partly to enable useful ambiguities.</p>
<p>Given all that, I would say it's pretty clear that the hotel desk
manager who asks <b>nuq mI'lIj?</b> isn't expressing any
annoyance with an ignorant tourist and isn't evidence of a
backwater dialect; they're simply employing Clipped Klingon in a
very routine part of their jobs in a way consistent with what
we're told. A guest with a reservation shows up, so the desk clerk
asks the very standard question, "What number?"<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
</body>
</html>