Klingon language
James Doohan recorded a tape of sounds for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Actor Mark Lenard transcribed these lines to learn them for the film. Before this movie, Klingons spoke English even when talking to each other. Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett commissioned Marc Okrand to create a structured language for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984. Okrand had previously constructed four lines of Vulcan dialogue for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He enlarged the lexicon based on Doohan's original dozen words. Okrand studied Native American languages like Mutsun and Southeast Asian languages during his academic work. These linguistic features worked their way into Klingon without deliberate design. The San Juan Bautista State Historic Park displays mention Okrand's study of local Mutsun people.
Klingon uses retroflex and uvular consonants to sound alien to human ears. The language contains twenty-one consonants and five vowels. Common sounds like velar plosives are absent from the inventory. An aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive combines with a voiced retroflex plosive in ways rarely found elsewhere. The vowel inventory is simple yet asymmetrical compared to many human languages. Back rounded vowels are tense while front vowels remain lax. Syllables must start with a consonant followed by one vowel. Most syllables end with a single consonant or specific biconsonantal codas. The word order follows object-verb-subject instead of subject-verb-object. This structure reverses the typical English sentence pattern. Case-sensitive letters denote sounds not native to American English. Uppercase letters represent sounds pronounced further back in the throat than normal English sounds.
The messianic figure Kahless the Unforgettable united the Klingon home-world more than 1500 years ago. He spoke the original language that became modern Klingon. Worf appeared as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation starting in 1987. In the episode A Matter of Honor, Commander Riker could not understand crew members speaking their own language. One Klingon ordered others to speak their human language before translation occurred. Jean-Luc Picard and Dax later learned to speak Klingon within the fictional universe. Non-canon dialects like Kumburan and Rumaiy appear in novelizations of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. These variations hint at regional differences existing inside the story world.
Arika Okrent estimated there might be only 20 to 30 fluent speakers in her 2009 book. d'Armond Speers raised his son Alec to speak Klingon as a native language. Alec's mother communicated with him in English instead. His pronunciation was excellent when he responded to his father. After Alec turned five years old, he stopped responding to Klingon because he did not enjoy it. Multnomah County Oregon hired Klingon translators for mental health programs in 2007 as a precaution. Simon & Schuster released electronic software including dictionaries and phrasebooks in May 2009. Eurotalk launched Learn Klingon courses in September 2011 using pIqaD fonts. Bidvine began offering lessons in the United Kingdom during August 2016. Duolingo opened a beta course on the 15th of March 2018 but faced technical issues regarding case sensitivity.
At least nine works of world literature have been translated into Klingon by hobbyists. Hamlet received a translation titled qaplaH. The Epic of Gilgamesh became paqbatlh. Much Ado About Nothing appeared as qapHom. Tao Te Ching transformed into qelghu'. The Art of War became qelghu'. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner translated to qelghu'. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz became qelghu'. The Little Prince transformed into qelghu'. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland became qelghu'. High Chancellor Gorkon suggested reading Shakespeare in the original Klingon during Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Nicholas Meyer and William Shatner explained this referenced a German myth about Shakespeare being German. The Bible has been translated from English into Klingon through multiple projects. Melanie Roney coordinates the Klingon Bible Translation Project for secular reasons. Nick Nicholas translated the Gospel of Mark into the language. The Welsh Government issued a statement in Klingon in July 2015 regarding UFO research funding.
Quentin Tarantino cited an old Klingon proverb in Kill Bill Volume 1 released in 2003. A Chicago Theatre company presented Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in Klingon on the 25th of September 2010. The Washington Shakespeare Company performed Hamlet selections featuring Stephen Fry as Osric on the 27th of February 2011. Netflix provided Klingon subtitles for Star Trek: Discovery starting with its digital-only release in 2017. Lieven L. Litaer translated the entire first season using romanized transliteration. Hans Solo released an EP called NuqneH in 2020 with five tracks rapped entirely in Klingon. Wikipedia used a Klingon character in its logo between 2003 and 2010 before replacing it with Ge'ez script. The Java edition of Minecraft includes a Klingon language setting. Microsoft's Bing Translator attempts to handle Klingon but struggles with prefix and suffix systems. XYplorer file management software was translated by its developer into the language.
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Common questions
Who created the Klingon language for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984?
Marc Okrand created the structured Klingon language for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984. He enlarged the lexicon based on James Doohan's original dozen words recorded for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.
What are the specific phonetic features of the Klingon language inventory?
Klingon uses retroflex and uvular consonants to sound alien to human ears and contains twenty-one consonants and five vowels. Case-sensitive letters denote sounds not native to American English, with uppercase letters representing sounds pronounced further back in the throat than normal English sounds.
How many fluent speakers of the Klingon language existed according to Arika Okrent in 2009?
Arika Okrent estimated there might be only 20 to 30 fluent speakers in her 2009 book. d'Armond Speers raised his son Alec to speak Klingon as a native language until he stopped responding after turning five years old.
Which works of world literature have been translated into the Klingon language by hobbyists?
At least nine works of world literature have been translated into Klingon including Hamlet titled qaplaH and The Epic of Gilgamesh becoming paqbatlh. The Bible has also been translated from English into Klingon through multiple projects coordinated by Melanie Roney.
When did Netflix provide Klingon subtitles for Star Trek: Discovery starting its digital-only release?
Netflix provided Klingon subtitles for Star Trek: Discovery starting with its digital-only release in 2017. Lieven L. Litaer translated the entire first season using romanized transliteration.