Vreleksá

kyonides · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 301

For some weird reason I haven't created a lot of idioms for Kexyana to express emotions or just some perifrasis? to express a complex idea in a easy way...

I know not every conculture should behave the same way another does but... would it mean they can't be civilized just because they don't and won't welcome you with some specific words?

Could a 'lang or (con)culture survive without a single greeting?
_________________
Seos nivo adgene Kizne tikelke

The Internet might be either your best friend or your worst enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.

Tolkien_Freak · Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:42 pm Post subject:

I'm sure at some point they would develop an idiom for it - they might start off with no greeting, but they would end up making one.

eldin raigmore · Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:21 pm Post subject:

Any time two people meet so that one or the other can initiate a conversation between the two, anyone who does in fact initiate a conversation is going to say something. That may well be called "a greeting". There's no reason it has to be the same thing every time, though.

Likewise, any time two people meet so that one or the other can initiate a conversation between the two, it may be quite common for the first of them to notice that they can now converse, to invite the other to begin a conversation if s/he so wishes. That, also, may be called "a greeting". Again there's no reason it has to be the same every time, but it's a lot likelier to be. For instance here in Michigan retail point-of-sale service people seem to generally say "Can I help who's next?" (Meaning, "may I help the next customer?"). In Texas they generally would say "May I help you?". In tlHiNgaan (sp?) they say "'NuqneH'" (sp?), which translates as "what do you want?". Marc Okrand (actually, Worf (Michael Dorn) speaking on behalf of Okrand) advised against greeting a Klingon with remarks about the weather or inquiries into his or his family's health; these would likely lead to fights.

In Richard Adams's "Shardik", in Bekla, people "greet" one another by saying "I see (person's name)". Or, sometimes, "I see you". That's a fictional conculture, but it's not unrealistic, at least not in that part.

There are real cultures now on Earth, for instance in the islands of the Pacific, in which a typical greeting is something like "We are walking on the road and the women are working in the field". If a group of men are walking on business on the road, and happen to come within earshot of a group of women working in a field, one of the mean will probably say that; or one of the women will say "We are working in the field and the men are walking on the road". So, this "greeting", though it's major purpose is to invite anyone who wants to start a conversation to do so, varies depending on who meets who, and when, and where. It's not really a "stock" greeting; or, it is, but the exact words used are extremely variable.

English's "Hello" was originally a shout across a large space or long distance, used to get the attention of someone who was barely in earshot. The first newbie users of telephones couldn't believe that the person on the other end of the line could really hear them easily, so they'd shout "Hello" at them (as if they were across the valley or something). It became standardized.

English's "How are you?" was a polite way of asking about whatever the other person was likely to have in mind to talk about. Since in general you really don't give a f**k how they are, or at least assign that a much lower priority than whatever you were going to tell or ask them, it devolved into a mere "greeting", and people usually don't wait for an answer before starting in on the "main" (in their opinion) topic.

"Hi" is both a sort of "How are you?" very-much stripped-down phonologically, and a version of "Hello!". It's impossible to say which of the two derivations any given use of "Hi" actually comes from.

"Good morning", "good afternoon", "good evening", "good night", and "good day" are all wishes for the well-being of the addressee. They're likelier to be used sincerely than "How are you?", because a person can hope his/her interlocutor has a good day even if s/he has absolutely no desire to hear any details to the contrary. (And, of course, sometimes you really do want to know how they are.) So you can say "good (whatever unit of time)" and then just start in on what you really want to talk about.

Calling the addressee's name, in the vocative case if there is one, like "Hey Tom!" (modern American English) or "O Tom" (archaic English) or "Ah Tom" (kind of Chinese) or "Tom eh" (Sumerian? Or Canadian? Can't figure whether it's Akkadian or Arcadien) is another kind of "greeting". Sometimes a toneme or stresseme or chroneme is used that makes it clear you really aren't going to say anything, you're just indicating that you'll listen if Tom has anything to say.

You can also use the vocative form of some common noun that describes the addressee, if you don't know or don't want to say his/her proper name. "Hey, asshole!", for instance. But I think the odds that that will truly be the usual greeting are limited. How do you greet your child? Wouldn't it usually be "Hello, baby"? Or something similar?

--------------------------------------------

In addition to greetings, there are sign-offs; such as "au revoir". These serve to indicate that an opportunity for conversation is coming to an end. The participants are about to become (usually temporarily -- sometimes the signoff will indicate whether it's temporary or longterm) too far from each other to converse.

--------------------------------------------

A culture could very well not have any single, set, stock saying to use as a greeting or as a signoff; but they'll probably have customs for what's usually done in various circumstances, and these will cover just about any situation.

Even if they don't, whenever two people meet and one of them wants a conversation to start, they'll think of something to say. That may be called "a greeting". It possibly won't be used often with exactly the same words, but maybe it will.
_________________
"We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory" - Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairman of the deficit reduction commission

Hemicomputer · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 610 Location: Calgary, Alberta

achemel · Joined: 29 Mar 2009 Posts: 556 Location: up for debate

Hemicomputer · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 610 Location: Calgary, Alberta