tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jan 21 19:27:09 2006

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Neologisms (was Re: I have a few questions that confuse me...)

ngabwI' ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terrence Donnelly" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 9:10 PM
Subject: Re: I have a few questions that confuse me...

>>   And i'm under the impression, that since klingon
>> has a "pattern" that if you use all the words
>> correctly, you can invent new ones logically on your
>> own because it's patterned. Just like people in
>> france who don't know hwo to say jackpot, could
>> recognize at the same time, that cagnotte means
>> jackpot. Let's speak klingon more, and perhaps we
>> should recognize this...
>>
>>
>
> The usual policy and advice of the the KLI and the
> mailing
> list is Don't do it.

I'll confess, until fairly recently, I never really grok'ed exactly why this 
bit of "unwritten policy" was so vital.
I always followed along with it because I knew this was the party line, so I 
stuck with it. I always thought that it restricted the use of the language. 
Then one night, while watching TV (a rerun of "Cosmos", I believe), it hit 
me. Simply put:

The mission of the KLI is to encourage the study of Klingon and other 
languages, and to teach newcomers to this language. To deviate from canon 
(what we know to be absolutely correct) would be doing a great disservice to 
beginners. As a Grammarian, I know what's official and what's not. But I 
cannot say that I would be able to make that distinction in Sept 2002, when 
I picked up TKD for serious study. Therefore, to expect any newcomer to make 
that distinction will likely lead to frustration more than anything.

Thank you for reading my lecture. I beleive I'm done now. }}: ) ::climbs 
down from soapbox::

--ngabwI'
Klingon Grammarian
HovpoH 704072.9

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