tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 16 17:49:29 1996

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Re: pIqaDqoq (was: diphthongs)

>jatlh ghunchu'wI'

>>jatlh qrlIH
>>I will accept Marc as the only official source of the *SPOKEN* language,
>>including grammar and spelling.  But I'm not sure why that authority
>>should extend to the written side nor, if we agree that it doesn't, why
>>that should suddenly mean that there is no canon at all.
>
>It's worse than "no canon at all", actually.  What we see is explicitly
>"anti-canon".  Michael Okuda has always maintained that there is *no*
>meaning to the written Klingon he puts on sets beyond purely aesthetic
>considerations.
>
>So the "pIqaD" we use is *officially* unofficial.  It is nothing more
>than a character set for representing the official Romanization of the
>Klingon sounds that is presented in The Klingon Dictionary.  It is a
>typographic pretension, not something that is meant to act like what
>the "real" Klingon writing system does.

In a related post I've already stated my opinon that you have lost this
battle: usage creates its own 'canon'.  Again, as I said in this other,
related, post, the most common script system used is the 'Romanized"
script we use when we say {tlhIngan Hol}.  The second most commonly used,
probably because it's too difficult to teach it to our computers, is the
{pIqaD}. 

The analogy I drew, again in the other post, was that of the Gothic or Old
English characters that used to be standard in English and were (may still
be) until VERY recently in German.  The more Roman script (as I'm using
right now) is however used most frequently today, not because of some
edict or 'canon' but by usage. 

The fact that Okuda arranges characters on his backdrops so they 'look
pretty' is irrelevant.  That alone does not invalidate the use of the
script system.  

Perhaps you could define what you think the word 'canon'
means; perhaps that would clarify what you mean.  My dictionary, a 1968
Webster's, contains no definition that approximates your usage.  The
closest is "a law or rule"; there is none similar to "legitimacy".


Qapla'

qrlIH veStaySortlhIH Sogh la'       Lt. Commander K'rlikh Vestai-Shor-Klikh
tlhIngan wo' Duj qIj leng ra'wI'    Commanding Officer, IKV Black Odyssey
Qanpu' pogh DuQ cha'DIch ra'wI'     Deputy C.O., Mailed Glove Squadron

a.k.a.

--
Denny Shortliffe

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