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Saarbrücken (dpa) - Not only earthly languages have gained a few words in the corona pandemic.
The extraterrestrial "Trekkie" language Klingon has also expanded its vocabulary with Corona, said Star Trek language expert Lieven L. Litaer of the German Press Agency in Saarbrücken.
"The pandemic is also preoccupying the supporters of the Klingon language."
Therefore, Litaer asked the inventor of the artificial language, the American linguist Marc Okrand, new words.
And they came: For Covid-19 (qo'vID wa'maH Hut) or the coronavirus (qoro'na javtIm), for example.
There was also a new word in Klingon for vaccination and for the stay at home campaign: #juHDaqratlhjay '.
Since it began in 1985, the Klingon language has grown from 1,800 to more than 4,000 words today, said Litaer, who teaches Klingon language courses.
New vocabulary is added every year.
The teacher estimates that 20 to 30 people worldwide speak fluent Klingon - a language with many tongue twisters and larynx sounds.
Due to the pandemic, his Klingon courses in attendance are currently canceled and only take place online.
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Born in Belgium, Litaer has also translated the classic children's book “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry into Klingon.
For this he was awarded the German Fantasy Prize 2019 (Category: Best German-Language Translation).
For many people around the world, the television series “Star Trek” is still cult more than 50 years after it was first broadcast.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210307-99-720986 / 2
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German Klingon Institute
Vaccinate in Klingon