By Samantha O'Donnell
In Glen Proechel’s article Klingon and Esperanto: The Odd Couple, the author depicts some similarities and mostly differences of the Klingon language as opposed to Esperanto. Klingon first entered the scene in the third Star Trek movie in 1984. Later in 1992 the Klingon Language Institute was formed, which included some 600 members all over the world. Unlike Esperanto, the Klingon language has gotten quite far in popularity among the science fiction enthusiasts and some others. The main difference between the two languages is the purpose for which they were created. According to the reading, Esperanto was created to improve and relate communication throughout European languages whereas Klingon was created for pure entertainment.
However, the author mentions some key distinguishing features of Klingon. First off the language is almost the exact opposite of English. The order of words is scrambled and contains no common sounds. It’s distinctive in that it has “endless puns” and “tongue-in-cheek” definitions. Most Klingon words are one syllable constructs or complete “non-sense”. To get a better idea of how backwards the language is, the Klingon word order is object-verb-subject.
On the other hand, Esperanto thrives on its complexities of vowel endings which map out the intentions of words and parts of speech. It is easily recognizable and though unintended contains homonyms which make it a lot more understandable as a spoken language compared to that of Klingon.
It may be closed minded to say, but it is hard to relate and understand a language that was made for motion picture and fun. Esperanto in my opinion had more of a purpose, though there are some very minor similarities the two languages do not appear to belong in the same category. One was made to bring persons together and the other to create a group of outsiders.
I thought this article was very interesting. I didn't realize Klingon was so popular as an actual language. I disagree, though, about your comment on how it was meant to create a group of outsiders. Esperanto may have been created to bring people together, but I think the same could be said about Klingon. Obviously there aren't any countries using it as their language, but people are learning it for a fun hobby. And then they get together to speak it together.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article stresses the importance of popularity in the expansion of a novel language. Esperanto may have failed due to the lack of press and popularity connected with the language. In a commercial society, everything is a commodity, an item to be bought or sold. Because of its connection with the popular television show, Klingon automatically had a better chance to be accepted in society. It is not uncommon for people to adopt the language of a popular commodity without any alternative motive than to be connected with other fans. For example, words such as “Hogwarts,” “Defense Against the Dark Arts,” and “Ravenclaw,” are all foreign terms to a person who has never encountered the Harry Potter series. To become acclimated into the popular culture, I read this series and associated myself with the language. The language from the Lord of the Rings series has also been incorporated into modern society, written on wedding rings, and tattooed onto the body. Unfortunately, a language may need to be sold and marketed in order to succeed in becoming universal.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is how it would appear to be fairly easy to construct a language; whether in a popular form like Klingon and Tolkien's elvish language or in something like Esperanto. Where we may want to make fun of Klingon as a language, it is impossible to ignore its popularity among dedicated Star Trek fans. I recently watched the popular show "Big Bang Theory" in which the main characters were playing "Klingon Boggle". It is ironic that Klingon is more popular than Esperanto. Perhaps Esperanto should be marketed in a show in order to make it more common.
ReplyDeleteI think Klingon can bring people together. Obviously it has already done so. If Esperanto was featured in a popular TV and movie series I'm sure it would be more well known. People more commonly bond over entertainment than world peace. It is sad but true. One must know human nature in order to appeal to the masses, and many people want to escape their reality. That is what Klingon helps them do; bring fantasy into reality. Esperanto does none of these things. It is just practical, even realistic.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the creation of a language is an incredibly interesting task. While easy to think about, I would assume that the invention of an entire language has to be quite complicated, as well as time consuming. Yet, I also find it similarly interesting in relation to twins making up their own language. However, I think that the invention of Klingon has become a widespread form of language, which reaches all types of people. This form of language, created for Star Trek has more than likely brought many together, due to the common bond of Klingon, which is something that every language does. Compared to Esperanto, I feel that Klingon had better and easier means of reaching people, because of the popularity of Star Trek. While Esperanto was limited to a man who wanted to do some good with a common language.
ReplyDeleteThe media can bring anything to everyone's attention. I agree with Dana, if Esperanto was in a popular movie I can only imagine how many more people would be speaking the language. The klingon language is just like the language that James Cameron created for Avatar. People are learning to speak the language all over the world now. People will always be interested in different languages and strive to perfect them, but if people don't know about certain languages, like Esperanto, then how would they be able to learn the language.
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting. I had no idea that the Klingon was such a popular language. I do not believe that this language was created for a group of outsiders. It was meant to unite a group of people with common interests. If you could bring people together this way then this should only be looked as a positive contribution to society.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting to me. I didn't even realize that Klingon was known by so many people. But when you really think about it, it's obvious that Klingon is so popular because of the media. I believe that if Esperanto was incorporated into a television show it would be just as popular as Klingon. I also think that Klingon was created as a way to bring people together in a unique and creative way.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Klingon even existed. I am having a little trouble grasping this concept, but I think it is amazing. I find in absolutely incredible that these people have developed their own language alone. However, humans are very social creatures that communicate in several different ways and often adapt the way they do so. The inventions of text messaging brough along a whole different language on its own, so I guess its not that surprising. I enjoyed this article and hope that the language can continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteI knew Klingon was an actual language but I didn't realize how many people actually knew it. I've never been a big star trek person so I never really found any interest in it, but it's cool that it's a language that was developed just because of a show. I love the idea of different languages, but I think I'll stick with trying to learn the more common ones.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with John in his comment about marketing Esperanto in a show since it may become bigger than what it is now. Looking into how big Klingon is in the world this shows that the reason it got so big i believe is that it made it more relate able to people. That it was put into a fun and interesting way to relate it and use it unlike, Esperanto which was used to bring together people in Europe, yet it did not do that. That maybe if brought into a TV show today it might be as big as Klingon.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Klingon even existed. It is amazing to me that people can make up their own language.
ReplyDeleteI think the Klingon language is interesting. I agree with Samantha though that there are not enough people who understand this language to constitute learning it. However if people are passionate about it, it could become a neat hobby.
ReplyDeleteI actually did know the Klingon language existed since I saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I think its really neat that passionate fans of Star Trek continue to practice this kind of language as a hobby. This just shows when people are passionate about certain things, they go in for it.
ReplyDeleteThat was a interesting article, as most said before me, I didn't know that Klingon was so popular. Honestly I didn't even know it existed, because I only saw a few Star-Trek episodes. However even it I knew much about Klingon, I still wouldn't understand why it's so popular; Klingon still has no meaning and it is non-sense. Personally I wouldn't even put that much time into trying to learn the language.
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