Spock's last name

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I saw a yahoo answers thread where someone asked what it was, and some joker replied "Spock Johnson".

That said, where does "S'chn T'gai" come from? Reading it, I imagine someone who can't pronounce Vulcan yet sees this would call him "Schenectady Spock". (McCoy, perhaps?)

 

[Hutchy01]

From my vague knowledge of this stuff Spock is his last name, the mystery comes from what is his first name.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

I saw a yahoo answers thread where someone asked what it was, and some joker replied "Spock Johnson".

That said, where does "S'chn T'gai" come from? Reading it, I imagine someone who can't pronounce Vulcan yet sees this would call him "Schenectady Spock". (McCoy, perhaps?)

Spock's last name is XTMPRSZNTWLFD according to the U.S.S. Enterprise Officer's Manual by Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler. (And no, I'm not joking.)

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcar...l/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual_Page_020.jpg

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual.php

 

[cultcross]

From my vague knowledge of this stuff Spock is his last name, the mystery comes from what is his first name.

Carl

 

[Nerys Myk]

From my vague knowledge of this stuff Spock is his last name, the mystery comes from what is his first name.

Carl

 

[Spot261]

I always wanted it to be "awocka"

 

[The Mighty Monkey of Mim]

From my vague knowledge of this stuff Spock is his last name, the mystery comes from what is his first name.

No, Spock is his given name. Leila Kalomi asks him if he has "another name" in "This Side Of Paradise" (TOS) and he tells her: "you couldn't pronounce it." Later in "Journey To Babel" (TOS), Amanda makes it clear that this unpronounceable name is the family name:

KIRK: Mrs. Sarek, I just don't understand...
AMANDA: Amanda. I'm afraid you couldn't pronounce the Vulcan name.
KIRK: Can you?
AMANDA: Well, after a fashion, and after many years of practice.

 

[Christopher]

That said, where does "S'chn T'gai" come from?

It was coined in the 1985 novel Ishmael by Barbara Hambly.

From my vague knowledge of this stuff Spock is his last name, the mystery comes from what is his first name.

Spock is his given name, but it comes last, because Vulcan name order is usually presumed to follow a surname-first pattern like most Asian languages or Bajoran. It works pretty similarly to Vietnamese, in that the given name comes last but is also the name used after Mr./Ms. -- for instance, I have a published story featuring a character named Lam Hang Bian, who's addressed as Ms. Bian.

No, Spock is his given name. Leila Kalomi asks him if he has "another name" in "This Side Of Paradise" (TOS) and he tells her: "you couldn't pronounce it." Later in "Journey To Babel" (TOS), Amanda makes it clear that this unpronounceable name is the family name:

Exactly what I was about to say. I'm not sure where the assumption of Asian-style name ordering came from, though. Neither of those episodes (both by D.C. Fontana, BTW) specified that the family name came first, though that's what fandom came to accept for some reason. Perhaps it's because the use of "Mr. Spock" suggested that Spock was his second name.

 

[ItIsGreen]

Carl

Carl

Did you two just make the same joke at the same time? Of all the names you could have picked...

Edit: I just googled 'Carl Spock' and found it's an old meme from on here... I've only been here since last October so please forgive my ignorance

 

[Green Shirt]

Spock's last name is XTMPRSZNTWLFD

I would like to buy a vowel, Pat.

 

[Tracy Trek]

It was coined in the 1985 novel Ishmael by Barbara Hambly.

Was the name coined in Ishmael also used in the novel Spock's World? If anyone remembers, I think McCoy used their family name when he was doing some research at the Vulcan archives. Or the family name appeared in the data he found.

 

[The Old Mixer]

This one seems like a better candidate for the TOS forum. Energizing.

 

[Christopher]

Was the name coined in Ishmael also used in the novel Spock's World?

Pretty sure not. It hasn't started showing up in other books until the past few years.

The problem I've always had with "S'chn T'gai" is that it doesn't look all that hard to pronounce. Unless it's one of those languages where the transliteration only gives the vaguest idea of how it actually sounds, like Welsh or Chinese. Although those cases are generally the result of either the transliterations being from centuries in the past when the pronunciations were different, or the transliterations being based on a different language than English (for instance, the Romanization of Vietnamese is based on French pronunciation). Not sure if either of those seems likely for Vulcan.

 

[scotpens]

Spock's last name is XTMPRSZNTWLFD according to the U.S.S. Enterprise Officer's Manual by Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler. (And no, I'm not joking.)

I think Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler were the ones who were joking -- just a bit.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Spock's name is XTMPRSZNTWLFD according to the U.S.S. Enterprise Officer's Manual by Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler. (And no, I'm not joking.)

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcar...l/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual_Page_020.jpg

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual.php

I think Geoffrey Mandel and Doug Drexler were the ones who were joking -- just a bit.

Could be! They sure got the unpronounceable part though!

 

[Nerys Myk]

"Raymond Luxury Yacht" but it's pronounced "Throat Warbler Mangrove"


Sorry, had to.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

"Raymond Luxury Yacht" but it's pronounced "Throat Warbler Mangrove"

You're a very silly person and I'm not going to talk to you any more.

 

[FormerLurker]

Pretty sure not. It hasn't started showing up in other books until the past few years.

The problem I've always had with "S'chn T'gai" is that it doesn't look all that hard to pronounce. Unless it's one of those languages where the transliteration only gives the vaguest idea of how it actually sounds, like Welsh or Chinese. Although those cases are generally the result of either the transliterations being from centuries in the past when the pronunciations were different, or the transliterations being based on a different language than English (for instance, the Romanization of Vietnamese is based on French pronunciation). Not sure if either of those seems likely for Vulcan.

A good Gaelic example would be the name Siobhan, pronounced "Shi-VAUGHN".

According to comic writer/artist John Byrne, Featheringstonehaugh is pronounced "Fairshaw".

 

[Vandervecken]

You're a very silly person and I'm not going to talk to you any more.

I've noticed a tendency for this programme to get rather silly. I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly....Now, nobody likes a good laugh more than I do...except perhaps my wife and some of her friends...oh yes and Captain Johnston. Come to think of it most people likes a good laugh more than I do. But that's beside the point.

 

[The Mighty Monkey of Mim]

"Raymond Luxury Yacht" but it's pronounced "Throat Warbler Mangrove"


Sorry, had to.

You're a very silly person and I'm not going to talk to you any more.

Logically, @Nerys Myk is...A WITCH!!!