[Tlhingan-hol] 2 letter language code for Klingon?

[David Trimboli]

From: ghunchu'wI' 'utlh [mailto:qunchuy at alcaco.net]
> 
> If someone wants to point out that students of typography call the "tlh"
> letter a trigraph because it is composed by abutting three otherwise separate
> symbols, fine. But Mr. Everson's comment was more than a little patronizing.

If *that* was the point of your response to him, maybe it should have been sent off-list.

> > And in the fiction of Klingon as
> > a natural language, what part does TalkNow! play?
> 
> The part it plays is explicit:
> 
> > Language learning specialists EuroTalk have brought out this beginners
> > guide to spoken Klingon with the help of Marc Okrand, creator of the
> > Klingon language.
> >
> > The Talk Now! CD-ROM covers everyday words Klingons would use if they
> > lived on Earth today, including some brand new ones.
> 
> I pay special attention to the phrase "words Klingons would use".
> 
> > Is it Klingon Monopoly written *by* Klingons or *for* Klingons? Or for
> > Terran enthusiasts of Klingons? Doesn't this make a difference?
> 
> I can't see why it would make any difference. The Klingon Dictionary wasn't
> written by Klingons for Klingons either, even in the fantasy of Star Trek being
> real.

Let me put it another way. In all our previous sources, the fictional source of the information is made clear. The Klingon Dictionary and The Klingon Way were compiled by the Federation Research Council with the assistance of Maltz. I forget if KGT was also written by the FRC. New information revealed in publications like come from Okrand, who consults Maltz for the answers. The Klingon CD game was a training video created by the Federation with the assistance of Gowron to teach Federation citizens about Klingon culture.

So who is the fictional authoritative source of the EuroTalk project, or of the Monopoly game? Did Okrand consult Maltz? What is the fictional intended purpose of each product? The fictional context in which each product exists informs us as to its reliability and usefulness. For instance, if the EuroTalk program is a list of words "Klingons would use," and not a list of words that "Klingons do use," then are we to assume that the words and phrases found therein are mere speculation? Are we to understand that Maltz has been hobnobbing with Okrand's neighbors and he came up with these words himself?

Don't think that's important? Suppose someone is writing something that they want to say is actually from a Klingon visiting Earth. Are these phrases known to him? Or are they just best guesses as to what he knows?

Since this whole language is about pretending that Klingons exist and understanding how and why they say things, you *must* address these questions. Okrand has *always* given us the context in which to understand his information, and they are nearly always conditioned with "Maltz isn't sure" and "some Klingons wouldn't agree." The fictional context is *essential* to understanding the sources.

We always just wink and smile at the idea of Maltz living in Okrand's basement, despite the impossible-to-reconcile facts that Maltz was a prisoner of the Federation in the 23rd (and maybe 24th) century, not the 21st, and that the world in which he is living seems to have uncannily duplicated the future as fiction. That must have been some dimension jump he took! Now the fiction is stretched even tighter, because we're asked to accept that there might be Klingons living among us now... or that *someone* has been making guesses as to what they "would" call things if they were here.

And if you want to discard the notion of pretending there really are Klingons who do speak this language, you may as well go find a "real" language to practice. If you drop the pretense of real Klingons, you also drop any reason to stick to the fiction that Okrand himself continues to use, and thus any reason not to start making it all up yourself... except "I'm an established autocrat keeping the language the way *I* want it."

The day Okrand abandons the fiction of having Klingon sources is the day I quit.

To reiterate: we need to know who *wrote* the pIqaDqoq in EuroTalk, whether Okrand vetted it, and exactly what the fictional context of the program is.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/