Re: Klingonase vs. tlhIngan Hol

[Qov <qov@direct.ca>]

lab charghwI':

 > The word "canon" is spelled "c-a-n-o-n" not "cannon". The former is 
something > you accept as from a reliable authority. The latter is a gun, 
typically too large
 > to carry without mechanical assistance. Anything written or spoken by Dr.
 > Marc Okrand is canon. He invented the language we call tlhIngan Hol.
 > Anything else is not canon.

charghwI' is perfectly correct with respect to tlhIngan Hol, but it must be 
noted that the KLI has no monopoly on the use of the word "canon."

Star Trek fans, as opposed to Klingonists, use "canon" to describe that 
which has appeared on screen in one of the TV shows, excluding the animated 
series, or one of the movies.  Star Trek books, while interesting to some 
and reviled by others, are not canon Star Trek.  Information cut from 
scripts, like Saavik being half Romulan, are not canon Star Trek.  The 
Klingon Dictionary, while Paramount sanctioned, and used in movies, is not 
Star Trek canon.  Only those lines of dialogue actually appearing in the 
finished versions of movies are Star Trek canon.

Klingonists use "canon" to describe tlhIngan Hol published or officially 
proclaimed by Marc Okrand.  TKD is tlhIngan Hol canon.  KGT and TKW are 
tlhIngan Hol canon.  New words and grammar explained by Mark Okrand in an 
interview for HolQeD is tlhIngan Hol canon.   To be fair to Marc, what he 
scrawls in autographed books, or what he mutters in the restaurant at 
qep'a', should probably not be considered tlhIngan Hol canon.  The point 
is, only one person makes up new tlhIngan Hol, and he should be given the 
opportunity to think things over, and the freedom to practice his own 
language without his mistakes being canonized!

Someone made the point about there being two different usages of the word 
canon, in an earlier post, but it was at the end of a long post and may 
have been missed.