nuqneH

nuqneH?
What do you want?
tera'ngan leghDI' tlhIngan, nuqneH jatlh.
When the Klingon sees the Terran, he says, what do you want?
lojmItDaq Qam 'avwI' 'ej nuqneH jatlh.
The guard stands at the door and says what do you want?
tlhIngan jatlh: nuqneH?
The Klingon says, what do you want?
qaghomDI', nuqneH Dajatlh.
When I meet you, you say what do you want?

Similar words

Meanings

Usage

Keep nuqneH lowercase except for the final capital H. It is best understood as a demand for the purpose of the approach, not a friendly hello.

Common mistakes

nuqneh loses the capital H, which is a separate Klingon sound from lowercase h.

Etymology

From nuq, meaning what, and neH, meaning want. KLI teaching material describes it as a clipped form of nuq DaneH, what do you want.

FAQ

Comments & contributions

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Pearl Raven

19 hours ago

I still say it at my phone when an unknown number calls lol

Polar Badger

6 days ago

this word is basically why Klingon is fun, even the hello is impatient

Contribution

Silver Loon

Jul 9

qaStaH nuq? is the separate what is happening? phrase. I have seen beginners treat it like a softer nuqneH, but it is asking a different question.

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Stormy Leopard

Jul 8

Riker's line in The Emissary is nuqneH, qaleghneS. The respectful bit is qaleghneS, not nuqneH itself.

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Solar Heron

Jul 5

neH can mean only in other sentences. In nuqneH it is the verb want, so dont use this one word as proof that neH always means want.

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Dashing Cheetah

Jun 30

People at cons use nuqneH as the showy way to say hi, and everybody understands the joke. If you are trying to write in-universe Klingon dialogue though, having warriors greet every passerby with it feels very Terran.

Warm Warbler

Jul 4

at conventions its fine, everyone knows you mean Klingon hello

Contribution

Jolly Jay

Jun 24

also dont write NuqneH just because English starts sentences with capitals. Klingon case follows the letters, not sentence position.

Jovial Elk

Jun 26

Duolingo autocapitalized it on me once and then marked other caps wrong, rude

Contribution

Hardy Nightingale

Jun 24

The final H is not decorative caps. In the usual spelling H is its own Klingon letter, the rough German Bach or Scottish loch sound. nuqneh with small h looks wrong to people who read Klingon.

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Lunar Tanager

Jun 22

nuqneH is clipped from nuq DaneH. So if you try to rebuild the grammar and wonder where the Da- prefix went, thats the point, it is a frozen exclamation.

Contribution

Onyx Eagle

Jun 18

if someone says nuqneH to you in a practice dialogue, dont echo nuqneH back. Klingon for the Galactic Traveler has the part people forget: often you just get on with the business, or the answer can be yIjatlh!, Speak!. It is closer to state your business than handshake hello.

Sleek Kudu

Jun 20

the no-reply part always made me laugh. very Klingon, just continue the agenda

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