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Sub Space 9206_C09
MOONLIGHTING IN PLANET TERMS
Linguist defines the Klingon language
by Kim I. Mills, Associated Press
March 2, 1992
WASHINGTON -- There is only one Klingon master of the universe, and
he's but a mere human.
Marc Okrand is author of "The Klingon Dictionary", the only place
where "Star Trek" devotees can learn such utilitarian phrases as "jol
yichu", or "Activate the transport beam!" and "qaStaHvlS wa' ram loS
SaD Hugh SljlaH qetbogh loD", or "Four thousand throats may be cut in
one night by a running man".
In the imaginary universe of "Star Trek", Klingon is a planet whose
denizens were once at war with the United Federation of Planets, but
are now somewhat tenuous allies.
And their language, spoken properly, sounds like German barked by an
irate samurai with a clogged throat.
By day, Okrand is a linguist at the National Captioning Institute in
Northern Virginia. He has a doctorate from the University of
California at Berkeley in the languages of West Coast Indians.
But he moonlights as "Star Trek's" Klingon consultant and has worked
on several "Star Trek" movies and for "Star Trek: The Next
Generation" on television.
It's a job for which most Trekkies would gladly give their dilithium
crystals. But Okrand just fell into it, like a wormhole in space.
In 1982, he was in Los Angeles and had lunch with a friend who worked
at Paramount Pictures. At the studio commissary, Okrand's friend
introduced him to the secretary to the executive producer of "Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". During their conversation, the
secretary mentioned that her boss was looking for a linguist to
script a brief scene in Vulcan, the language of Mr. Spock.
"When does it have to be done?" Okrand asked. "And the secretary
said, 'It has to be finished by Friday.' So I said, 'I can do
that.'"
Moments later, the executive producer walked by and met Okrand. The
rest is intergalactic history.
In three days, Okrand invented several lines of Vulcan and taught
them to Kirstie Alley, who played Lt. Savik [sic], and Leonard Nimoy,
the inimitable Mr. Spock.
"I taught Vulcan to Mr. Spock," Okrand still marvels.
A couple of years later, Paramount was doing "Star Trek III: The
Search for Spock", and called Okrand again.
"What I decided to do -- they never told me to do this -- was to make
a real language," Okrand said.
In writing the dictionary, Okrand devised some arbitrary rules just
to keep himself amused. For example, the basic word order is the
opposite of English. So if you want to say, "Man bites dog," in
Klingon, the correct word order would be, "Dog bites man."
Okrand also threw out the "K" sound because, he says, it's a
linguistic cliche to give bad guys names starting with "K" sounds.
(What about Capt. Kirk?) So even though Klingon starts with a "K",
as do almost all Klingon names in "Star Trek", the correct
pronunciation is more like "Tchlingon".
When Okrand demonstrates, it sounds as if he has peanut butter stuck
to the roof of his mouth.
Okrand hopes there will be more "Star Trek" in his future -- perhaps
dictionaries of the other imaginary space languages, Vulcan and
Romulan.
He appears at three or four "Star Trek" conventions a year, Trekkies
leave Klingon messages on his answering machine and there's a Klingon
club on Long Island that sends him Klingon crossword puzzles.
There's even a man in Boise, Idaho, who is conducting a class in
Klingon.
"A lot of people," Okrand noted, "take it very, very seriously."
