Klingon language
Klingon (tlhIngan-Hol, pronounced roughly "TLHING-an-hol") is a constructed language created by the linguist Marc Okrand in 1984 for the Klingon characters of the Star Trek franchise. It holds the ISO 639-2 code "tlh", and is described in Okrand's The Klingon Dictionary, first published in 1985.1 • 2 • 3
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator | Marc Okrand, a linguist, created the language in 1984; the first few words were coined by actor James Doohan for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)2 |
| Core reference | The Klingon Dictionary (TKD), 1985; second edition 1992; Klingon for the Galactic Traveler (KGT), September 19971 • 2 |
| Word order | Object-verb-subject (OVS), a pattern found in very few of the world's languages2 |
| Vocabulary | A few thousand words4 |
| Speakers | A small number able to converse in Klingon, with maybe several hundred others having some knowledge5 |
| Institutional status | ISO 639-2 code "tlh" (Klingon; tlhIngan-Hol); Klingon Language Institute founded 1992 with proficiency certification3 • 1 |
| Dictionary sales | Over 300,000 copies of The Klingon Dictionary sold1 |
History and development
The language began as a handful of sounds. For Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released in 1979, the actor James Doohan, who played Montgomery Scott, coined the first few Klingon words.2 When later films needed extended Klingon dialogue, Marc Okrand, a linguist, created a speakable language for Star Trek III in 1984.2 • 4
Design under constraint. Paramount wanted the language to sound guttural and harsh, and Okrand wanted it to sound unusual, so he selected sounds that combined in ways not typically found in other languages.6
Okrand published his description as The Klingon Dictionary in 1985. A second edition with modifications and addendums appeared in 1992, and Klingon for the Galactic Traveler came out in September 1997. The dictionary has been translated into German, Czech, Italian, and Portuguese.1 • 2
Phonology and writing
Every Klingon sound occurs individually in existing human languages, but no single language uses the entire collection. The combinations are deliberately atypical: the language has a retroflex D alongside a dental t, but no retroflex T and no dental d, so the two series cross-cut in a way natural languages rarely show.6
Writing. Astra Image Corporation designed Klingon letters for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, based on symbols created by Matt Jefferies.5
Grammar
Klingon's standard word order is object-verb-subject (OVS), a feature found in very few of the world's languages.2 A typological analysis of the language concluded that, despite features rarely found in other object-verb languages, Klingon is a consistently OV language, fitting the generalizations linguists have established for object-verb languages worldwide.2
Vocabulary and canon
Klingon's vocabulary is a few thousand words.4 Okrand continues to expand the language, providing additional vocabulary and grammatical clarification through consultation with his purported Klingon informant, Maltz.1
Canon. As the inventor of the language and author of The Klingon Dictionary, Okrand's pronouncements are considered the standard of correctness, called "canon", by the community.7 New words are revealed at the community's annual gatherings: over 100 country names were revealed at qep'a' 2023, and roughly 70 new words were revealed at qepHom 2023.7
By the numbers
- Over 300,000 copies of The Klingon Dictionary sold.1
- A small number of people able to converse in Klingon, and maybe several hundred others with some knowledge of the language.5
- A few thousand words of vocabulary.4
- Over 100 country names revealed at qep'a' 2023; roughly 70 new words at qepHom 2023.7
Community and practical use
Dr. Lawrence Schoen founded the Klingon Language Institute (KLI) in 1992. The organization facilitates communication among Klingonists through publications, language proficiency certification, and an annual conference.1
Literary translation. The KLI has published Klingon editions of Hamlet, the Tao Te Ching (pIn'a' qan paQDI'norgh), and Gilgamesh (ghIlghameS), and Klingon versions of Much Ado About Nothing (paghmo' tIn mIS) also exist.1 • 5 The Little Prince was published in Klingon in October 2018.7
Performance and media. An original Klingon opera, 'u', has been written and performed, and a Klingon-language stage adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol played in four cities over seven years.1 In March 2018 Duolingo launched its Klingon course.7
Comparison with other constructed languages
Klingon belongs to a different category from Esperanto. Unlike Esperanto, fictional languages such as Klingon have often been created with real linguistic complexity and were not necessarily intended for everyday use.4 Despite that design intent, Klingon is really spoken: a 1997 French interlinguistics study in Linx set out to define the status of an artificial, "fancy" but really spoken language, examining how English metalanguage mediates its learning and the sociolinguistic questions it raises on the web.8
References
- Development and Use of the Klingon Language, Klingon Language Institute
- Hol Sarmey QeD QulwI' ghItlh: a typological analysis of Klingon (thesis)
- ISO 639-2 Language Code registration for Klingon (tlh), Library of Congress
- Why We Love to Learn Klingon: The Art of Constructed Languages, JSTOR Daily
- Klingon language and alphabet, Omniglot
- Sounds of Klingon, Klingon Language Institute
- Klingon Language Wiki, main page
- Métadiscours et enseignement d'une langue artificielle, Linx (1997)
Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Languages and dialects › Named languages by region › Named languages overview
Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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