[Tlhingan-hol] Fictional Origins, Real Language

[Rohan Fenwick - QeS 'utlh]

ghItlhpu' Qov, jatlh:
> From Lulu, an online vanity press, in response to my question
> regarding what language of publication I should select when mine is
> not listed. They had an extensive but not exhaustive list of
> languages, and choosing one is a non-optional part of submitting a manuscript.

(poD vay')

> I expected to be just ignored, so this is better than I thought.
> Shall I attempt to explain the difference between fictional and
> artificial, or just pick Xhosa or Tagalog and move to the next step?

In the ideal scenario I'd say yes, definitely try. Their list of languages has on
it several artificial languages already, so hopefully they can be convinced.

If it helps you make a case, you could tell them that Klingon is one of only nine
constructed languages that have an ISO 639-2 code, and Lulu already have five of
them on their list: Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua, Interlingue, and Volapük, so
they may as well allow the other four as well. (FWIW, even ISO 639-3, which is
supposed to be a comprehensive code system for the world's languages, includes
only 20 constructed languages, of which Klingon is one.)

Also, I notice they're happy to provide categories to such obscure languages as

Chechen and Marshallese even before they have books to go in those categories.

Hell, they've even got Manx listed as an empty category. So the "Other" option
should be a last resort - I reckon we can argue for a distinct Klingon category.

QeS