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<p>In English, we don't rely on foreign scripts to indicate foreign
words. We transliterate and italicize them. We capitalize proper
nouns. The fact that we often don't or can't do these things in
Klingon is a deficiency in our writing systems, not a problem
inherent in transliteration. The fact that transliterations may
not always be the same is irrelevant. We don't write חֲנֻכָּה; we
write Hanukkah or Chanukah or a bunch of other ways, and which one
you choose depends on your preference and maybe your style guide.<br>
</p>
<p>We also don't assume that people reading foreign words or names
will be stumped by a transliteration. Sure, a new student of
English might read "Gandalf spared them one more mouthful each of
the <i>miruvor</i> of Rivendell" and get confused as to what <i>miruvor</i>
is and wonder whether <i>Gandalf</i> is a name, but at some point
you have to decide whether your audience is students who can't
identify non-native words or a wider, more knowledgeable audience.
Generally, we go with the latter. If you're reading a translation
of the original Greek New Testament and you encounter the word <b>'IySuS</b>
(or whatever), it should be pretty darn obvious that it's a name.
If you're not experienced enough to recognize that it's not a
Klingon word, you should probably study more before trying to read
a translation of something as complex as the New Testament.<br>
</p>
<p>I have no problem with unmarked transliterations. They do show
why Klingon so desperately needs "spelling reform" that will never
happen. But TKD is happy to give us Klingon names that are not
marked in any way and do not appear in the word lists, and Skybox
cards are happy to transliterate foreign names without any notice
whatsoever, so even Okrand is fine with unmarked transliterations.<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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