Worf's not so subtle name.

[Herbert]

I thought he just liked to fish?

for sailors, yes

 

[Nerys Myk]

I kinda remember seeing an early TNG casting sheet or character breakdown where Worf had a different name (along with Julian Picard and Mascha Hernandez), I think it was M'something?

Or did I imagine this?

M'Ork. N'a'NuN'aN'u (Glory to your house)

 

[Leviathan]

Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of The Boy Who Cried 'Worf'.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

M'Ork. N'a'NuN'aN'u (Glory to your house)

Would that be M'Ork, son of M'Indy?

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Honestly, I always thought "Worf" was an incongruously goofy name for a Klingon. It sounded like the name of some cartoony dwarflike creature, or like Tim Conway's comedy character Dorf. It wasn't until relatively recently that I realized it sounded like "warfare."



Keep in mind that Riker and Troi were a revamp of Decker and Ilia from Phase II and ST:TMP. And keep in mind that the alternate name for ancient Troy was Ilion in Greek, or Ilium in Latin. I think it was only last year that I recognized that wordplay -- Ilia / Ilium / Troy / Troi.



Actually I think it was a pun on "Bonecrusher," because somebody thought that was an ironic name for a doctor.

Good observations.

So, Bones & Crusher, hm?

Totally coincidence, i‘d say.

 

[Dukhat]

Worf's name doesn't even conform to the rules of Klingon phonology as developed by Okrand.

Kor

What rules? That all Klingon male names have to start with the letter K? Or like how all Vulcan male names have to start with the letter S? Or Vulcan female names have to have the T' before it?

I think that idea went out the window with Maltz from STIII (which was the movie that Okrand was hired for to create the Klingon language).

 

[Christopher]

What rules? That all Klingon male names have to start with the letter K? Or like how all Vulcan male names have to start with the letter S? Or Vulcan female names have to have the T' before it?

No, I think Kor is referring to the fact that there's no "F" in Okrandian Klingonese. Worf's name in Okrand phonetics is 'worIv. (That penultimate letter is a capital i, not a lower-case L. Darn sans-serif fonts.)

I think that idea went out the window with Maltz from STIII (which was the movie that Okrand was hired for to create the Klingon language).

Also Torg and Valkris.

 

[plynch]

Off-topic, but Trek creators and writers really like their hard K and RKs for character names: KiRK, SpocK, McCoy, PiCaRd, RiKer, Crusher. SisKo, QuarK. Yes, of course, many don't fit, it's just a trend with far more occurrences than in the real world. At least my real world.

Is that "strong"-sounding? Or just a striking noise that transmits well through old TV speakers of the day?

 

[MarsWeeps]

Off-topic, but Trek creators and writers really like their hard K and RKs for character names: KiRK, SpocK, McCoy, PiCaRd, RiKer, Crusher. SisKo, QuarK

Don't forget the one who started it all....Pike!

 

[Kor]

What rules? That all Klingon male names have to start with the letter K? Or like how all Vulcan male names have to start with the letter S? Or Vulcan female names have to have the T' before it?

I think that idea went out the window with Maltz from STIII (which was the movie that Okrand was hired for to create the Klingon language).

When Maltz's name was actually pronounced in Klingon, it didn't sound the way "Maltz" would be pronounced in English.

Kor

 

[Gul Sengosts]

"My name is Worf. Not Woff!" - to Lwaxana

 

[Forbin]

When Worf got bayoneted by that Nutcracker soldier, and Wes yelled "WORF!!" - it just sounded like he was trying bark like a dog. I laughed hysterically the first time.

 

[Emperor Norton]

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[Emperor Norton]

Off-topic, but Trek creators and writers really like their hard K and RKs for character names: KiRK, SpocK, McCoy, PiCaRd, RiKer, Crusher. SisKo, QuarK. Yes, of course, many don't fit, it's just a trend with far more occurrences than in the real world. At least my real world.

Is that "strong"-sounding? Or just a striking noise that transmits well through old TV speakers of the day?

Even further off topic, has anyone else noticed that Worf exhales heavily before saying anything, and Data takes a quick breathe before saying anything?

 

[Vger23]

If you shorten Riker you get Ri...maybe he likes rye bread.

Hidden meaning???? I'd wager so, folks.

 

[Phoenix219]

Well maybe it was subtle because I never noticed this until now but when you say it and you leave off the f it can sound like your saying, war! Klingons were written to be warriors Granted these are the same people who called the android "Data" so maybe I shouldn't be shocked. Troi has the name Troi that connects to Helen of Troy who people also was seen as being sexual and exotic. Crusher if you take off the, er just says "Crush" and that is what Picard was supose to have on her.

Jason

With how much was taken from The Cage and Phase II, I've wondered if the name Picard itself could have been inspired... Captain Pike-ard and his Number One, and all.

 

[Christopher]

With how much was taken from The Cage and Phase II, I've wondered if the name Picard itself could have been inspired... Captain Pike-ard and his Number One, and all.

Primarily, he was named for the Piccard family of pioneering French balloonists and explorers ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Piccard ). Although I have noticed the similarity to "Pike."

 

[Tim Thomason]

What rules? That all Klingon male names have to start with the letter K? Or like how all Vulcan male names have to start with the letter S? Or Vulcan female names have to have the T' before it?

I think that idea went out the window with Maltz from STIII (which was the movie that Okrand was hired for to create the Klingon language).

What's odd is that Okrand's Klingon actually removed the letter K from its phonetic usage (replacing it with the letter q, which serves the same function). It makes it seem more alien, I guess, but ignores the fact that all male TOS Klingons had K names.

I imagine that Worf (and Maltz and Chang and other "problematic" names) are from another Klingon language or culture that was displaced with the Okrand lingua franca. So, 'worIv might be the closest pronunciation to Worf in tlhIngan Hol, but that might not be how its pronounced in the ancient language of the House of Mogh.

 

[Christopher]

I imagine that Worf (and Maltz and Chang and other "problematic" names) are from another Klingon language or culture that was displaced with the Okrand lingua franca. So, 'worIv might be the closest pronunciation to Worf in tlhIngan Hol, but that might not be how its pronounced in the ancient language of the House of Mogh.

Sure, it stands to reason that there are many different Klingon languages, just as there are many different Earth languages that aren't mutually pronounceable. Rendering Klingon names from other languages into Hol might be like rendering English names and words into Japanese, for example. There are so many differences in phonetics that you can only roughly approximate.

 

[loghaD]

Sure, it stands to reason that there are many different Klingon languages, just as there are many different Earth languages that aren't mutually pronounceable. Rendering Klingon names from other languages into Hol might be like rendering English names and words into Japanese, for example. There are so many differences in phonetics that you can only roughly approximate.

Very true. For example, common for both languages is that they can't start a syllable with a consonant cluster, so just as the Star in Star Trek Japanese becomes スター (sutaa), the word Sto-Vo-Kor becomes Suto'vo'qor in tlhIngan Hol, with a quick u sound breaking up the st cluster in both.

Other examples include:

brak'lul -> bIraqlul
Praxis -> pIraqSIS
Grilka -> ghIrIlqa'

No, I think Kor is referring to the fact that there's no "F" in Okrandian Klingonese. Worf's name in Okrand phonetics is 'worIv. (That penultimate letter is a capital i, not a lower-case L. Darn sans-serif fonts.)

You're very nearly right, but it's wo'rIv, with the glottal stop at the end of the first syllable: WO-riv.

When Maltz's name was actually pronounced in Klingon, it didn't sound the way "Maltz" would be pronounced in English.

Indeed; the Klingon spelling is matlh.