[tlhIngan Hol] Is Star Trek: Discovery a new canon category?

Lieven levinius at gmx.de
Thu Aug 10 11:33:07 PDT 2017


I'm sure this will create several different opinions. My short answer 
would be yes.

I've had this question in mind already when the names came out at STLV - 
they were neither used on screen, nor published by Okrand, so following 
our rules, they are as canon as any of the our own klingon names we use 
on this list.

Of all the things you have listed in your list, all of the accepted 
canon works are indeed BY Marc Okrand, or at least vetted by him. 
Anything else is not canon and should not be on the list.

I believe that DSC opens a new kind of canon, but we should not separate 
it from the rest. The language is growing; so if Qov decided to 
translate something in a way we were not sure if it works, we must trust 
that she either aksed Maltz, or we just trust her doing it right.

After all, the Klingon is used on screen, so it is canon from that point 
of view. Is it Okrandian canon? Not literally. But being "inside the 
game", what is spoken on DSC is spoken by a Klingon. And we all know 
that it will be good Klingon (no Bingon).

I would not wish to see people begin splitting the language we speak in 
the "real" Klingon and the "new" Klingon, just like some fans argue that 
anything that came after the passing of Gene Roddenberry is not real 
Star Trek canon.

Am 10.08.2017 um 20:17 schrieb De'vID:
> 1. Things Okrand wrote or said himself (the books, tapes, interviews
> in HolQeD, reveals at the qep'a' and qepHom'a')

I don't see so many difference in Canon as you separate them:

> 2. Things done by Klingonists in which Okrand had major involvement
> (paq'batlh... anything else in this category?)

This is cat. 1 for me, as the book says "translated by Okrand". He did a 
lot of work on this, even though not 100%, but he has obviously approved 
and/or vetted it.

> 3. Things done by Klingonists in which Okrand had some involvement
> (I'm not sure the extent of his involvement in Klingon Christmas
> Carol? Maybe that belongs in category #2?... TalkNow! Klingon,
> Festival of the Spoken Nerd)

AKCC does NOT count as canon to me, but TNK dfinitely does, Okrand 
approved all of it.

> 4. Things done by non-Klingonists but licensed by Paramount/CBS (Keith
> R.A. DeCandido and a few other authors, the Haynes BoP book)

Any of the Klingon used in there was approved by MO. If not, it's not canon.

> 5. Things done by Klingonists with minimal involvement from Okrand but
> licensed by Paramount/CBS (Star Trek: Discovery)

Yes, licensed, so it's canon. See my long comment above.

> Are people going to accept sentences from Star Trek: Discovery as
> canonical Klingon? (For example, no objection if I use sentences from
> the show as examples in {boQwI'}?)

I would draw the line almost where Memory Alpha does: It's seen / heard 
on screen, so it's canon. (Except that they do not accept the spelling 
of Klingon, since that's not seen on screen, but that'S their problem. 
Of course we will accept the spelling).

-- 
Lieven L. Litaer
aka Quvar valer 'utlh
Grammarian of the KLI
http://www.facebook.com/Klingonteacher
http://www.klingonwiki.net/En/Canon



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