tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 08 12:08:15 1996

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"Correctness" of new Klingon words

I�m new to this listing, and language,  so please bear with me..(or any
other cute/fierce Ha�DIbaH of your choice).
..
I think by saying �Robin jIH� earlier,  I may be saying �I�m a robin�,
rather than �my name is Robin�.
This might explain why I always get served with live worms at Klingon
diners - still it�s much the same as the stuff Klingons usually  eat
anyway!
 .
Still, at least I know enough English to understand the difference between
�canon� and  �cannon�. . �Canon� seems rather an �in� word on this list
doesn�t it?

Come to think of it, users of English, and presumably speakers of other
languages, are often quite sloppy in �real life� conversations: I�ve been
reading,  on this list, about the nasty new words that script writers are
forcing upon us without apparent thought or knowledge of the Klingon
language..

Maybe we should make allowances for Klingons speaking on film and t.v.
Probably not all of them are supposed to be learned academics when it comes
to spoken Klingon. Certainly, having looked at digests of this listing not
everyone is writing �proper� English, yet no one minds and nor should they,
generally it�s all understandable anyway.  Perhaps Klingons aren�t that
picky either - particularly in very casual or extreme circumstances - often
just the sort of situations that are depicted in the episodes/films we see.


This might explain some of the script writer�s �new� words that tend to be
irritating to some. Klingonists. Maybe Dax and Worf  natter in �Hinterland
speak�  I haven�t seen any of these episodes though so I�m only guessing. 
Aren�t Klingon�s who want to get ahead supposed to use the dialect of the
current rulers of the Empire? Dax has been around a while, maybe when she�s
not trying to impress others she slips into a more familiar (to her)
version of Klingon that was in vogue when he/she first learned it.
Seemingly (there is canon for this), the Klingon leadership changes quite
often and hence the �proper� Klingon tongue also  changes.

As for Klingon names for artefacts like the �d'k tahg� knife, being
technically incorrect.,  perhaps they are derived from the names of people
or from words in other cultures. This happens on Earth, so why not in the
Klingon Empire? We have �Bowie� knives �Colt� revolvers, �guillotines�, 
�Biros�, �Hoovers�  etceteras and ad infinitum. 

It has always been a good game, with Star Trek in general, to take
something from an episode which appears unsatisfactory i.e. seemingly wrong
or contradictory, and work out how it can be rationalised. Given that it
obviously �happened� or was �said�. e.g. How could Khan have known Checkov
in STII. Checkov wasn�t in the series when Space Seed was filmed. Answer:
Checkov wasn�t in the series but he was on board the Enterprise
nevertheless. The character was not shown on film, but Khan obviously had
some contact with him that was not filmed. It  �happened� so there should
be a solution, no matter how absurd that sometimes seems. My point being
that we can often gain more richness from Star Trek if we can accept, with
some thought and reasoning, what would otherwise be merely a mistake. In
programming parlance, the apparent mistake becomes a �feature� rather than
a �bug�.

Also, the Klingon Empire is a big place and there might well be a lot of
dialects and colloquial phrases, which, whilst not being �proper�, might be
understood anyway. So long as we don�t get too many �junk� words in Klingon
and retain a stable and hopefully, expanding, platform of  M.Okrand.
Klingon, the language might well be enhanced by �un-schooled� script
writers and thus become more �realistic� as a living language, rather than
a totally academic one..

I don�t think the Klingons would appreciate Shakespeare if they were not
familiar with the nuances of class and rank evident in the differing speech
patterns of the characters. In Shakespeare the speech of the common
soldiery, and common folk in general is obviously not the Queen�s English,
but they speak it anyway and presumably the Klingons not only understand
this concept but relate to it. It�s not just a question of accent but also
grammar. It might be difficult to follow such dialectic Klingon but I don�t
think we should automatically conclude that it is �wrong� (even if it was
in reality, just an actor getting his lines wrong).

I�m not going to worry if a Klingon on screen comes up with a technically
incorrect word.- so long as �new� words are noted as �foreign� or �Colloq�
or �dialect� or �brand name� etc.   as appropriate in any future
dictionaries for the sake of clarity and enjoyment of the language. I think
the resident linguists could make a good stab at identifying reasonable
derivations for words which don�t appear to �fit� in the normal Klingon
way..

I wouldn�t want Star Trek�s script writers to have reservations about
creating new words and adding to our somewhat limited vocabulary of Klingon
words. I think it�s healthy to have lots of input in this field, and it
will result in a more �rounded� feel to the whole thing. Living languages
aren�t generally created by just one person, they sort of grow with
communities don�t they?

I�m just concerned that the baby might get thrown out with the bath water
if one is too purist with the Klingon language..

Still, c�est la� vie, as we say back on Earth....

-Rob

Lt. jaj 
The Hinterlands.

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