Editing Klingon language (section)

==Language==
Hobbyists around the world have studied the Klingon language. At least nine Klingon translations of works of world literature have been published, among which are: ''[[The Klingon Hamlet|{{mono |Hamlet}}]]'' (''[[Hamlet]]''), ''[[GhIlghameS|{{mono |ghIlghameS}}]]'' (''The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]]''), ''{{mono|paghmoʼ tIn mIS}}''  (''[[Much Ado About Nothing]])'', ''{{mono |pInʼaʼ qan paQDIʼnorgh}}'' (''[[Tao Te Ching]]''), ''{{mono |Sun pInʼaʼ veS mIw}}'' (''[[The Art of War]]''), ''{{mono |chIjwI' tIQ bom}}'' (''[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]''), ''{{mono |'aS 'IDnar pIana' Duna}}'' (''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''), ''{{mono |taʼpuq mach}}'' (''[[The Little Prince]]''), and ''{{mono |QelIS boqHarmey}}'' (''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''). The Shakespearean choices were inspired by a remark from High Chancellor [[List of Star Trek characters (G–M)#G|Gorkon]] in ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]'', who said, "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon." In the bonus material on the DVD, screenwriter [[Nicholas Meyer]] and actor [[William Shatner]] both explain that this was an allusion to the German myth that Shakespeare was in fact German.

The [[Klingon Language Institute]] exists to promote the language.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html?res=9A0CEFD8163BF934A35753C1A9629C8B63&fta=y |author=Lisa Napoli |title=Online Diary: tlhIngan maH! |date=October 7, 2004 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[CBS Studios]] owns the [[copyright]] on the official [[The Klingon Dictionary|dictionary]] and other [[Star Trek canon|canonical]] descriptions of the language. While constructed languages ("conlangs") are viewed as creations with copyright protection,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Adelman |first=Michael |date=Spring 2014 |title=Constructed Languages and Copyright: A Brief History and Proposal for Divorce |url=http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v27/27HarvJLTech543.pdf |journal=Harvard Journal of Law & Technology |volume=27 |number=2 |pages=543–562 |access-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-date=March 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304103410/http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v27/27HarvJLTech543.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> natural languages are not protected, excluding dictionaries and other works created with them. Mizuki Miyashita and Laura Moll note, "Copyrights on dictionaries are unusual because the entries in the dictionary are not copyrightable as the words themselves are facts, and facts can not be copyrighted. However, the formatting, example sentences, and instructions for dictionary use are created by the author, so they are copyrightable."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_9.html |title=Enhancing Language Material Availability Using Computers |first1=Mizuki |last1=Miyashita |first2=Laura A. |last2=Moll |publisher=Jan.ucc.nau.edu |access-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-date=November 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101024918/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_9.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Okrand had studied some [[indigenous languages of the Americas|Native American]] and [[Languages of Asia|Southeast Asian languages]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2009/05/theres_no_klingon_word_for_hello.html |title=There's No Klingon Word for Hello |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate magazine]] |date=May 7, 2009 |first=Arika |last=Okrent |access-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-date=November 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124111335/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2009/05/theres_no_klingon_word_for_hello.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>An attribution to Okrand may be found in the museum displays at the [[San Juan Bautista, California|San Juan Bautista]], California State Historic Park, which includes a short mention of the local [[Mutsun]] native people whom Okrand studied for his thesis.</ref> and phonological and grammatical features of these languages "worked their way into Klingon, but for the most part, not by design."<ref name="whirlingwords"/> Okrand himself has stated that a design principle of the Klingon language was dissimilarity to existing natural languages in general, and English in particular. He therefore avoided patterns that are [[Linguistic typology|typologically]] common and deliberately chose features that occur relatively infrequently in human languages. This includes above all the highly asymmetric consonant inventory and the basic [[word order]].<ref>Okrent 2009, pp.270–271</ref> [[Kwantlen First Nation|Kwantlen]] journalist Robert Jago has pointed out similarities between Klingon and [[Halkomelem]], a language spoken by the Indigenous people of the area where James Doohan grew up.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jago |first=Robert |date=February 14, 2025 |title=Scotty was the person who created the first version of the Klingon language - who set the sound pattern for it. Scotty is also from South Vancouver, right next to the Musqueam reserve where they speak Halkomelem. [Post] |url=https://bsky.app/profile/rjjago.bsky.social/post/3li6kk32a4k2z |website=Bluesky}}</ref>