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Klingon Homeworld name; Spelt wrong...

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Well, in true Klingon fashion it is.
"Qo'Nos" does not apply to the fundamental laws of Klingon spelling, pronunciation or the alphabet itself;
"Q" is a letter. There is a "Q" and a "q". "Q" is pronounced "Kkk" (Sometimes pronounced "Kkkr".
"o" is a letter as well. It is pronounced "oh".
"*Apostrophe*" is a special consonant of the Klingon alphabet. It represents a catch in the throat.
"N" is NOT a letter. The Klingon "N" is "n" - not capitalized. "n" is pronounced "nn".
"s" is also NOT a letter. The Klingon "s" is "S" - capitalized. "S" is pronounced inbetween "S" and "Shh".

So, in true Klingon spelling, pronunciation and alphabetical spelling, the Klingon Homeworld should respectively be named:
Qo'noS

I believe that the STO team named Qo'noS "Qo'Nos" because it went along with the other Klingon planets of the same sort: Qu'Vat, B'Moth. The letter after the *Apostrophe* has been capitalized. I see this as slightly inproper Klingon grammar, and I'd like an official reason for the capitalized "n". Thanks for reading this request.
P.S., as evidence of "Qo'noS" (not "Qo'Nos"), take a look here: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Qo'noS
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I wasn't aware that Klingons wrote in the Latin alphabet. How does their capitalization change in Cyrillic? (All letters are the same case in the Cyrillic alphabet). How would Klingons write in an abjad (an alphabet where only consonants are usually represented and vowels are left to the reader's interpretation) such as the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets?

    Spelling is completely irrelevant when you move from one alphabet to another. If you want to be really correct spelling names from other languages, then you can't do it with the common Latin alphabet, you need to use all the special symbols from dictionary pronunciation guides. Otherwise as long as you get the pronunciation close you're fine.

    The great Kurdish leader's name is not "Salah ad-Din", that's just the closest way to spell it in the Latin alphabet so that it would be pronounced correctly by english-speakers. "Saladin" is not quite the correct pronunciation, but it is the way Europeans commonly pronounced the name, so it's still not exactly "wrong". Something like "Salah'ahDin" would probably be fine too. The only correct spelling is in the correct alphabet.

    At the point the name is written in the Latin alphabet for english-speakers to read, it passes out of the jurisdiction of Klingon grammar-TRIBBLE and into the jurisdiction of English grammar-TRIBBLE.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    inktomi19d wrote: »
    I wasn't aware that Klingons wrote in the Latin alphabet. How does their capitalization change in Cyrillic? (All letters are the same case in the Cyrillic alphabet). How would Klingons write in an abjad (an alphabet where only consonants are usually represented and vowels are left to the reader's interpretation) such as the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets?

    Spelling is completely irrelevant when you move from one alphabet to another. If you want to be really correct spelling names from other languages, then you can't do it with the common Latin alphabet, you need to use all the special symbols from dictionary pronunciation guides. Otherwise as long as you get the pronunciation close you're fine.

    The great Kurdish leader's name is not "Salah ad-Din", that's just the closest way to spell it in the Latin alphabet so that it would be pronounced correctly by english-speakers. "Saladin" is not quite the correct pronunciation, but it is the way Europeans commonly pronounced the name, so it's still not exactly "wrong". Something like "Salah'ahDin" would probably be fine too. The only correct spelling is in the correct alphabet.

    At the point the name is written in the Latin alphabet for english-speakers to read, it passes out of the jurisdiction of Klingon grammar-TRIBBLE and into the jurisdiction of English grammar-TRIBBLE.

    They have their own writing. Putting all Klingon names and text into Klingon writing would make it nearly unreadable to most players. There's such a thing as transliteration; this is what is commonly done in Star Trek. So yes, the OP has some very valid points.

    If it's spelled incorrectly, it's incorrect no matter how you look at it. Things generally have clearly defined names. It'd be like having Sol System as 'soL systeM' which would be incorrect. Not to mention since it's an actual place people would be much more 'grammar TRIBBLE' about it being correct.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    when you see a planet name spelled wrong, submit a ticket and write down the number that pops up when you submit it (and post that number in the bug section). that's what the devs need to access the problem.
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