tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 12 16:20:27 2007

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Re: Changing The Language By Inference (was Re: Purpose Clauses)

Terrence Donnelly ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

--- "Cat  >^..^<  Jefferson" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> But if your attempts at "original contribution"  
>>keep drifting toward creating vocabulary, please
>> keep them to  
>> yourself.  It is the official policy of the KLI,
and
>> of this email  
>> discussion group, that sanctioned Klingon
vocabulary
>> comes only  
>> through Marc Okrand.
> 
> In my lifetime English vocabulary has grown in leaps
> and bounds, and there was no one person creating
> each addition. And so, once again, I bring up an old
> long debated question.  Does  Klingon vocabulary &
> language grow or does it stagnate when Dr. Okrand no
> longer has a desire to bother with it or, God
> forbid, dies?
> If it is allowed to grow after that time, why can
> the KLI not consider rethinking it's policy in the
> interim?
> Please keep in mind I am not trying to start a war
> here. I'm simply putting out what I think is a
> legitimate query.
> vIghro'
> 
> 
> 

The problem is simply, If Okrand isn't the source of
authorized new words, then who is?  For whatever 
reason, Klingon tends to attract individuals of -
ahem - strong opinions. Unless some person or body
can be almost universally recognized as the one to
sanction a given new word, there will always be
disputes (witness the debate over "rarbogh" vs.
"rarmeH" right here) and no way to resolve them.
One complaint I've always had with this list and
the Klingon community in general is that no debate
is ever truly resolved.  We had this same discussion
about the use of {-meH} years ago on this list and
in the pages of HolQeD, but reading the latest posts, 
it's as if the previous discussions never happened.
All because there is no recognized authority which
can say "The answer is X" and end the debate.

Consider Esperanto, which first had Zamenhof as its
authority, and then the Esperanto governing council
that he set up, and word development and language
growth have occured in an orderly fashion.  We
have only Okrand, who is (let's face it) only
reluctantly and sporadically involved in Klingon
today.
And the whole situation is complicated by the fact
that a third party, a corporation interested only in
profit, actually owns the language.  If Okrand and
Paramount both turned over the rights to Klingon to
some committee, which could then develop the language
by some orderly process and (most importantly)
publish authoritative materials, then Klingon could 
also grow in an orderly way, but I don't see that
likely to happen.

-- ter'eS

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