Contrived Languages: Klingon
NEW! Osric University is now offering a bounty of $50 and 4 undergraduate course credit hours (KLI 398) for the translation of William Faulkner's 1939 short story, "Barn Burning." This story was selected both for its literary merit, as well as for its themes of honor and vengeance, which is well-suited to Klingon culture.
Klingon was created in 1992. Klingons are extra-terrestrial beings featured in the television series Star Trek, Star Trek Next Generation, et. al. It is interesting to note that Klingons existed in imagination about a quater century before their language was actaully codified (they did, however, always speak Klingon).
The only apparent reason to learn Klingon, due to its complexity and lack of native speakers, is to better communicate with a new species known as Homo trekkius. These creatures, which co-exist but do not generally breed or interact with humans, are quite impressed by those who show fluency in Klingon. The Homo trekkius is becoming so predominant, however, especially in engineering and technical fields, that it may soon become the predominant international language.
Dr. Marc Okrand developed Klingon for Paramount Studios ... perhaps the first contracted contrived language. Dr. Okrand also wrote The Klingon Dictionary and other books about the language.
Visit The Klingon Language Institute for more in-depth information on Klingon.
Associates degrees granted after six months of study and two essays. Baccalaureate degrees granted after one year of study and appropriate thesis. Please contact chris@osric.com for further information.