tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Sep 19 21:21:15 1998
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Re: Klingon Language Clan
I was ignoring this thread completely, but something in this particular
note struck me as rather amusing, and while I'm responding to that item
I figured I might as well say everything I'm thinking.
Jeff&Susan write:
>I have spent 20 years in Science Fiction Fandom and have never met
>anyone so narrow minded as you.
This shows the basic misunderstanding from which the entire barrage of
insults and counterstrikes sprung. Jeff/Susan somehow managed to miss
the fact that this is a Klingon *language* mailing list; it isn't about
Star Trek fandom at all.
>You may take your language and speak it
>to yourself and your tiny circle of friends. For me, I'm going to take
>my family to DisneyWorld for a nice - REAL vaccation in the REAL world.
Does anyone else find this ironic? Disney World is a place built on
make-believe. It exists, but it's constructed from the imagination of
people and only survives because of the entertainment value it gives.
Trying to *contrast* it with the Klingon language seems quite odd. In
fact, one of the members of this list likes to point out the *similarity*
between Klingon and Disneyland. Just because it's "made up" doesn't mean
it's not real.
>Thank you so much for your enlightning conversation. I do hope to never
>offend your sincabilities by darkening your Email Door again.
The offense was in the repeated claim that Klingon does not exist, made
in a forum where Klingon is used regularly to communicate. An early note
in the thread said:
>Actually, Klingon is a language that doesn't REALLY exist, so how can
>I possibly insult a race that isn't even REAL? Remember, we're all just
>playing dress up...
I do find this offensive. I don't wear a uniform or a wrinkled forehead.
I don't go around twirling a bat'telh and practicing Mok'Bara. I'm not
trying to act like a star-trekking extraterrestrial with a bad attitude.
What I *am* doing is studying, using, and promoting the Klingon language,
which *does* really exist, and which *does* have a large enough base of
skilled speakers to make my using it worthwhile. It's an interesting
little language, and to belittle the effort I have put in by calling it
"playing dress up" is to insult both its speakers and its creator.
Coming up to a group of people who are speaking a language and comparing
its sound to a sneeze is bound to get them a little riled up. Ignoring
their ire and telling them to "get a life" because they take offense at
your comparison strikes me as inconsiderate at best, and antagonistic at
worst. And trying to insult them by calling them "fannish" misses the
point completely! Sure, lots of people on the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list
are Star Trek fans. Some of them wear Klingon uniforms to conventions,
some of them practice martial arts, some of them apparently even plan to
change their names to something Klingon. But that is not the focus of
the list -- the focus of the list is Klingon language, its vocabulary,
its grammar, its syntax. Our fandom is irrelevant in this forum.
Hmm, what's a good acronym for the Klingon counterpart to the SKI
(Summary for the Klingon Impaired)? :-)
tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI'pu'vaD mu'mey puS vImuch:
Holqoq neH 'oH tlhIngan Hol'e' 'e' maqpu', 'ach Disney qo' Suchrup qorDu'
'e' maqDI', tlhaQlaw'. qo'na' 'oHbe', qar'a'? :-)
tlhIngan jIHbe' (tlhIngan jIH vIneHqu'be') 'ach tlhIngan Holna' vIparHa'.
ngab Holvam 'e' maqDI' vay', jIH 'oghwI' je nutIchbej.
Hov lengmo' mangotlh'a'? ramchu'! tlhIngan Hol'e' wIbuSnIStaH!
--
Alan Anderson, professional programmer and amateur Klingonist
proud member of the Klingon Language Institute since 1995
qo'mey poSmoH Hol -- language opens worlds -- /