7 ms·

What would be the point? Might as well make Klingon an official language.

tdeck 5y ago
Esperanto is considerably easier to learn than Klingon.
ben_w 5y ago
One is designed to be easy to learn, to be regular and logical and use roots familiar to European ears, the other is designed to sound alien. (Does Klingon have a word for bridge-of-a-ship and not bridge-over-water, or is that just an urban legend?)
- bawolff 5y ago
  https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/date/# https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/date/# says that QI is klingon for bridge over water.
  - ben_w 5y ago
    QI? Curiously, that’s the name of the TV show where I think I heard the claim. I wonder if it was added and given that form as a direct result of that appearance on that show? (The timing is plausible, but I don’t have a detailed enough memory to find which episode).
chillacy 5y ago
If Klingon were invented in Europe and designed to be a pan-european easy-to-learn language, sure. Otherwise, Esperanto has some desirable attributes as a universal second language.
- mannerheim 5y ago
  There are other, better-designed conlangs than Esperanto. Nobody speaks them, sure, but nobody speaks Esperanto either. And if we're going by popularity, might as well pick English anyway.
  - leke 5y ago
    Esperanto has a pretty big, organised and active community. But you're right. I also think popularity should be the decider. If Esperanto thinks it should be the chosen auxiliary language, it will have to earn it. Personally though, I prefer Ido over Esperanto.
    - mnouquet 5y ago
      Define "pretty big".
      - akvadrako 5y ago
        Around year 2000 there were about 2 million speakers. It's way above any other conlang.
        mannerheim 5y ago
        That's akin to being the biggest fish in a fishbowl. There are minor dialects of minor languages with more speakers.
        akvadrako 5y ago
        The question was about conlangs, which have the advantage of being designed to be easier to learn. Esperanto is so easy it can be learned in negative time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Esperanto#:~:text=The%20propaedeutic%20value%20of%20Esperanto,explore%20other%20cultures%20more%20successfully https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Espera....
- Avamander 5y ago
  "Easy-to-learn" is very subjective. There's a lot of different languages spoken in the EU and the accessibility of a language environment matters.
  - leke 5y ago
    True. I struggled with Esperanto for 10 years, only to give up and try Ido.
    - beebeepka 5y ago
      What's your native tongue? I guess that would make non insignificant difference
      - leke 5y ago
        English and a long time Finnish learner/speaker (because of migration).
  - hulug 5y ago
    > "Easy to learn" is very subjective Not really. For example, a language that has no grammatical gender is inarguably easier to learn than a one that has.
    - mannerheim 5y ago
      Finnish has no grammatical gender. Is it easier to learn than Spanish?
      - hulug 5y ago
        That was just one example but you win I guess. What I had in my mind was for a Spanish speaker it's probably easier to learn a hypothetical Romance language that doesn't have grammatical gender than say French.
        5y ago
kergonath 5y ago
Quenya would be a much better sounding option.
Semiapies 5y ago
Too many people actually speak Klingon, and it was invented in the US. Non-starter.
Apocryphon 5y ago
It would be a cool sci-fi reference, yep.

Esperanto is considerably easier to learn than Klingon.

One is designed to be easy to learn, to be regular and logical and use roots familiar to European ears, the other is designed to sound alien. (Does Klingon have a word for bridge-of-a-ship and not bridge-over-water, or is that just an urban legend?)

bawolff 5y ago
https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/date/# https://www.kli.org/about-klingon/new-klingon-words/date/# says that QI is klingon for bridge over water.
- ben_w 5y ago
  QI? Curiously, that’s the name of the TV show where I think I heard the claim. I wonder if it was added and given that form as a direct result of that appearance on that show? (The timing is plausible, but I don’t have a detailed enough memory to find which episode).

chillacy 5y ago

If Klingon were invented in Europe and designed to be a pan-european easy-to-learn language, sure. Otherwise, Esperanto has some desirable attributes as a universal second language.

mannerheim 5y ago
There are other, better-designed conlangs than Esperanto. Nobody speaks them, sure, but nobody speaks Esperanto either. And if we're going by popularity, might as well pick English anyway.
- leke 5y ago
  Esperanto has a pretty big, organised and active community. But you're right. I also think popularity should be the decider. If Esperanto thinks it should be the chosen auxiliary language, it will have to earn it. Personally though, I prefer Ido over Esperanto.
  - mnouquet 5y ago
    Define "pretty big".
    - akvadrako 5y ago
      Around year 2000 there were about 2 million speakers. It's way above any other conlang.
      - mannerheim 5y ago
        That's akin to being the biggest fish in a fishbowl. There are minor dialects of minor languages with more speakers.
        akvadrako 5y ago
        The question was about conlangs, which have the advantage of being designed to be easier to learn. Esperanto is so easy it can be learned in negative time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Esperanto#:~:text=The%20propaedeutic%20value%20of%20Esperanto,explore%20other%20cultures%20more%20successfully https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutic_value_of_Espera....
Avamander 5y ago
"Easy-to-learn" is very subjective. There's a lot of different languages spoken in the EU and the accessibility of a language environment matters.
- leke 5y ago
  True. I struggled with Esperanto for 10 years, only to give up and try Ido.
  - beebeepka 5y ago
    What's your native tongue? I guess that would make non insignificant difference
    - leke 5y ago
      English and a long time Finnish learner/speaker (because of migration).
- hulug 5y ago
  > "Easy to learn" is very subjective Not really. For example, a language that has no grammatical gender is inarguably easier to learn than a one that has.
  - mannerheim 5y ago
    Finnish has no grammatical gender. Is it easier to learn than Spanish?
    - hulug 5y ago
      That was just one example but you win I guess. What I had in my mind was for a Spanish speaker it's probably easier to learn a hypothetical Romance language that doesn't have grammatical gender than say French.
      - 5y ago

kergonath 5y ago

Quenya would be a much better sounding option.

Semiapies 5y ago

Too many people actually speak Klingon, and it was invented in the US. Non-starter.

Apocryphon 5y ago

It would be a cool sci-fi reference, yep.