Klingon dialects

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

PORTLAND (May 13) -- Sorry, potential Klingon interpreters.

Officials have said they won't be needing your services, after all.

The office that treats mental health patients in Multnomah County had
included Klingon on a list of 55 languages that could be spoken by incoming patients.

But the inclusion of the Star Trek language drew a spate of tongue-in-cheek
headlines.

And now the county has rescinded its call, stressing that it hasn't spent a
penny of public money on Klingon interpretation.

``It was a mistake, and a result of an overzealous attempt to ensure that our
safety net systems can respond to all customers and clients,'' Multnomah
County chair Diane Linn said in a news release.

County officials had previously said that no patient had ever come in
speaking only Klingon, but that the county would pay a Klingon interpreter in the
unlikely case one was actually needed.

In recent years, Klingon has gone from being a fictional tongue for the Star
Trek television and movie series to a complete language, with its own grammar,
syntax and vocabulary.



05/13/03 09:28 EDT


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