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Science Fiction » alt.startrek » Klingon vs Navajo
| Klingon vs Navajo [message #220423] |
Do, 16 Februar 2006 17:24 |
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NEW YORK-According to a report released Monday by the Modern Language
Association, speakers of the Star Trek-based Klingon language outnumber
individuals fluent in Navajo by a margin of more than seven-to-one.
"Navajo, a 3,000-year-old Native American tonal language belonging to
the Athabaskan/Na-Den=E9 group of tongues, is clearly dying and will
likely be extinct by 2010," MLA president Frederick Toback said.
"Fortunately, though, the sad, steady decline of this once-proud Native
American tongue has been more than offset by a rising interest in
Klingon culture."
Klingon speakers said they are pleased with the report. "Every day,
more and more people are discovering the excitement and challenge of
Klingon, or, as it's called by native speakers, tlhIngan-Hol," said
Doug "HoD trI'Qal" Petersen, an official grammarian at the Klingon
Language Institute. "After just a few weeks of studying Klingon, you,
too will be saying 'qo' mey poSmoH Hol!'"
"For those new to the language," Petersen continued, "a terrific place
to start is Marc Okrand's The Klingon Dictionary, published by Pocket
Books. After that, I'd suggest The Klingon Way, also by Okrand. A
marvelous guide to all things Klingon, it contains everything from
recipes for Durani lizard skins to the proper way to address a B'rel
Scout to the complete lyrics to The Warrior's Anthem."
As membership in the KLI continues to swell, the Navajo population,
whose lands occupy approximately 25,000 square miles in the four
corners of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, has dwindled to
150,000.
"Our people are chained to the terrible suffering of our past like a
falcon without wings," said Daniel Littlefoot, president of the Navajo
Nation. "We consume alcohol and it, in turn, consumes us."
One of the many learn-to-speak-Klingon interactive CD-ROMs currently on
the market.
With the surge of interest in Klingon has come a corresponding surge in
publishing. Klingon-language editions of The Iliad, Hamlet and The
Bible are now available, as well as the classic Klingon tale The Eyes
Of Kahless.
"More than 200 titles are currently available, with more on the way all
the time," said Bob "nIteb'Ha" Janowitz, editor of HolQeD, a quarterly
Klingon literary journal. "It truly is a booming industry."
Though the basics of Navajo are still taught in some reservation
schools, and the language is spoken ceremonially at tribal council
meetings, most Navajos do not bother to retain their knowledge after
leaving school.
"The number of truly fluent Navajo speakers stands at less than a
thousand," Littlefoot said. "And of these thousand, only a handful are
less than 60 years old. Within a generation, our 4,000-year-old tongue
will be dust."
"We have people from all walks of life here," said Jennifer "pekaQ"
Proehl, a member of the Klingon Language Institute's High Council.
"Students, computer programmers, salespeople--all of them banding
together in the proud Klingon tradition."
According to Proehl, the Klingon language is just one part of a
thriving Klingon culture. KLI members practice Klingon martial arts,
participate in Klingon singing and storytelling sessions, and even
perform spiritual ceremonies derived from the various Star Trek
television series and films.
"What's happening with the Klingon language is extremely exciting," MLA
associate director Stephen Hogue said. "If its popularity continues to
grow at the current rate, we may consider giving certain
Klingon-speaking groups financial support in the form of grants and
special-interest funding. Increasingly, the MLA is diverting funds from
dying languages like Navajo to vibrant, emergent ones such as Klingon."
"I know this is my home, but there isn't anything here for me," said
unemployed Navajo nation member Leonard Murphy, 22, who dropped out of
school at 14 and remembers little of the Navajo he learned in
elementary school. "Everyone's leaving, getting off the reservation.
Now there's nothing to do here except drink beer and watch Star Trek."
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| Re: Klingon vs Navajo [message #220424 ] |
Do, 16 Februar 2006 17:31 |
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On 2/16/2006 11:24 AM, Delta Creed wrote:
> NEW YORK-According to a report released Monday by the Modern Language
> Association, speakers of the Star Trek-based Klingon language outnumber
> individuals fluent in Navajo by a margin of more than seven-to-one.
as published in that fine journal, _The Onion_, back in 1999.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29426
//jbaltz
--
jerry b. altzman jbaltz [at] altzman.com KE3ML
thank you for contributing to the heat death of the universe.
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| Re: Klingon vs Navajo [message #220429 ] |
Fr, 17 Februar 2006 01:17 |
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Dammit,
I thought that this was a Street Fight post.
I'd give it to the Klingon, tho'.
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| Re: Klingon vs Navajo [message #220431 ] |
Fr, 17 Februar 2006 05:34 |
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Jerry B. Altzman wrote:
> On 2/16/2006 11:24 AM, Delta Creed wrote:
>
>> NEW YORK-According to a report released Monday by the Modern Language
>> Association, speakers of the Star Trek-based Klingon language outnumber
>> individuals fluent in Navajo by a margin of more than seven-to-one.
>
>
> as published in that fine journal, _The Onion_, back in 1999.
> http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29426
>
Thank you. :)
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