[Tlhingan-hol] How many grammarians ?

[Rohan Fenwick]

ghItlhpu' lojmIt tI'wI' nuv, jatlh:
> He was the first human to speak Klingon. He did so before Okrand could
> speak it.

jang qunnoQ, jatlh:
> how is this possible ? I always thought Okrand has/had the maximum skill in
> klingon (written and conversational) anyone could ever achieve.. After all
> -by definition- every klingonist out there, from beginner to grammarian, is
> Okrand's student.

Many linguists who study specific languages are like this. It's what makes the difference between a linguist of a language, and a speaker of a language. A linguist may specialise in a language's structure, know everything there is to know about how the verb conjugates, or how many noun cases there are, or whether the adpositions go before or after the noun. But being able to speak the language in real time is a very different set of skills. You need to summon up the words and structures more or less on demand as you need them, on an almost subconscious level rather than using conscious recall. It takes a lot of practice and a different kind of familiarity with the language.

Nonetheless, I've seen Marc interpret occasionally for people on the vow at qep'a', and participate in conversations (over ghem at Denny's, mostly...) where he's speaking English and others are speaking Klingon. His passive skills with the language in real time are still impressive; not many are capable of interpreting live Klingon.

QeS 'utlh
 		 	   		  
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