tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Aug 16 21:15:48 1998
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Re: Makah Battle Language
Qov quotes:
>> ...Do you know the name Brent Galloway? He's a guy from SIFC / U. of
>> Regina who studies Halq'emeylem. At the Salish conference, one of his
>> remarks about some shortened forms in the Makah language or whatnot
>> ended
>> with "or it could be like Klingon battle language"! I didn't get to
>> ask him if he's a Klingonist.
"Klingon battle language" is a John Ford concept, mentioned in his novel
"The Final Reflection" but never quite explained beyond being quick and
simple. It's not perfectly comparable to "clipped Klingon" as it applies
to tlhIngan Hol, but it's obviously based on the first few minutes of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with commands being given in quick, short
syllables.
>Everyone I have spoken to about Halkomelem has heard of Klingon.
>Typically they have used it in exams, and nobody rolls their eyes or
>laughs. Apparently it's considered valid enough that it's a
>legitimate basic of comparison for natural languages. I think this is
>very cool.
Marc Okrand is a lucky man. Few constructed languages are as well-known
as Klingon. I often encounter a popular urban legend that more people
speak Klingon than Esperanto -- which is obviously false, as there are
*millions* of fluent Esperantists, and more like dozens of similarly
fluent Klingonists. But it's a wee bit more believable that more people
have heard of Klingon than have heard of Esperanto.
I think part of the appeal of Klingon is our collective willingness to
engage in the fantasy that it *is* a natural language about which we have
incomplete information. So many of Okrand's explanations have a cultural
basis, which we gladly go along with. It does make for some rather odd
looks when I try to explain the origin of the word {qajunpaQ} to someone
who heard it on TV, however...
-- ghunchu'wI'