10 Times Star Trek Broke Its Own Rules

5. The Klingon Language

Klingons Star Trek The Motion Picture
Paramount

Mark Lenard, better known for playing Sarek in the Original Series and the later films, appeared on-screen in 1979 as the captain of one of the three Klingon K'T'inga class Battlecruisers that are zapped out of existence by V'Ger.

In these scenes, he speaks a Klingon dialect that was originated by James Doohan, and then later expanded into a full language by linguist Mark Okrand. This is generally accepted as the canon language for these ridged headed aliens.

Ronald D. Moore, who is the 'Klingon guy' in Star Trek - he wrote many of the best Klingon episodes - has said that one shouldn't hold up a dictionary while listening to the Klingon language being spoken in his episodes. He says that whether or not they use the official language is up to the writer, as jotting it down word for word is quite cumbersome.

This may have been somewhat dismaying for Okrand to hear - developing a language is hardly the easiest job in the world!

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"