Changes: Vulcan language

Revision as of 01:51, 22 February 2010

Six variations on the Vulcan script

The Vulcan language is spoken by the Vulcans of the planet Vulcan.

Written language

Ancient Vulcan text

The Vulcan written language has several different forms, some of which combine with each other.

The primary version resembles terrestrial musical notes and is written in vertical columns running top-to-bottom, left-to-right. The primary Vulcan script consists of a central staff, along which spirals, long and short dashes, and dots are written. (ENT: "The Seventh")

A more intricate version of the musical-notation like text was used in ancient times by the Vulcans. This type was written in the Kir'Shara, as well as engraved on the walls of P'Jem. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident", "Kir'Shara")

A more stylized version of this script appears on the Promenade of Deep Space 9. (DS9 set decoration)

A second writing system seems to consist of simple squiggles, spirals and dots and can be used separately or in tandem with the primary script. A sequence of several symbols from this script appears on many forms of Vulcan clothing. This script is also written vertically. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; ENT: "Breaking the Ice", "Fusion", et al.)

A third cuneiform-like script appears on Vulcan starship hulls and in some Vulcan homes and temples. This script appears to run left-to-right like many Terran languages. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; TNG: "Unification II")

A dreidel-like children's toy (seen on Romulus) bore the "syllabic nucleus of the Vulcan language." (TNG: "Unification II")

Examples of spoken language

Koon-ut-kal-if-fee: Marriage or challenge

Kroykah: Stop! or Enough! (TOS: "Amok Time")

Dakh orfikkel aushfamaluhr shaukaush fi'aifa mazhiv: Our ancestors cast out their animal passions on these very sands

Sha'koshtri korseivel bai'elkhrul-akteibuhl t'Kolinahr: saving our race through the attainment of Kolinahr.

Nahp - hif-bi tu throks: Your thoughts... give them to me

Kashkau - Spohkh - wuhkuh eh teretuhr: Our minds are joined, Spock... together, and as one.

T'Ish hokni'es kwi'shoret: I sense the consciousness calling to you from space...

Estuhl terrupik khaf - Spohkh: Your human blood is touched by it, Spock.

vravshal srashiv t'Kolinahr: You have not yet attained Kolinahr.

T'I kilko-srashiv kitok-wilat: He must search elsewhere for his answer.

I'tah tehrai k'etwel: He shall not find it here.

Dif-tor heh smusma, Spohkh: Live long and prosper, Spock. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The scene which contained this Vulcan dialog was filmed in English and later translated into Vulcan by actor and linguist James Doohan. Doohan observed the actors' lip movements and created new vocal "sounds" for them to dub over their original English.

Gishen worla ihk-banut.: He's never what I expect.

Wakli ak'wikman - ot-lan?: What surprises you, lieutenant?

Ish-veh ni... komihn.: He's so... human.

Kling akhlami buhfik - Saavik-kam.: Nobody's perfect, Saavik. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Saavik wimish. Kup-stariben?: I am Saavik. Can you speak?

Dom - ki'sarlah: So, it has come

Dungi tu sahrafel?: Will you trust me? (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Ponfo miran: Go to hell. (ENT: "Broken Bow")

This was not translated on-screen, but Mike Sussman provided the translation from his production notes.

Mal-kom: Serenity. (ENT: "Shuttlepod One")

This may not be a real Vulcan term since it was only spoken in a dream fantasy experienced by Malcolm Reed. In this fantasy, Malcolm tells T'Pol that he dislikes his first name, to which T'Pol replies that she likes the name due to its similarity to the Vulcan word for "serenity".

Ti'amah!: Untranslated. (ENT: "Bounty")

T'Pol said this repeatedly while walking along the walls of the decontamination chamber during her artificially triggered pon farr
This was not translated on-screen, and Mike Sussman commented that it may not have been translated because it might have been intended to be an offensive comment.

Vokau.: Remember. (ENT: "The Forge")

Nirak: Fool, from the name of a famous Vulcan fool. (ENT: "Kir'Shara")

Ghishun tanfi bosh dwener?: Why is he here?

Pod Tucker avalde keru... Vulkanfi tozhi dawru.: Commander Tucker is my colleague... he wanted to visit Vulcan.

Falu nenvikh valdewizh sukfi lorun.: This is the first time you've brought a colleague home with you. (ENT: "Home")

Tviokh!

- An insult, meaning Neighbor, but one you wish were under the ground instead of on it.

The Vulcan dialog used in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and the ENT episode "Home" was translated by linguist Marc Okrand.

Other references

When the USS Enterprise encountered a Melkotian buoy in 2268, it spoke to the crew in their native languages, which included the Vulcan language, as heard by Spock. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")
The Vulcan language was related to the Romulan language. In the alternate reality caused by Nero's incursion, Lieutenant Hawkins, the communications officer of the USS Enterprise was unable to distinguish Vulcan from Romulan. However, Nyota Uhura, who was fluent in all three Romulan dialects, could easily distinguish the two languages. (Star Trek)

Additional references

Apocrypha

The Vulcan language has also appeared in numerous non-canon works over the years, such as the following dialog from Spock's World:

Hwath ta-jevehih tak rehehlh kutukk'sheih nei ya'ch'euvh.: McCoy to Kirk (untranslated)
He' elef ka hij.: Oh yes you do. - McCoy to Spock
heya: Mountain
ekhwe'na meh kroykah tevesh.: Untranslated, possibly Old Vulcan.

The most extensive and influential Vulcan language developed by fans in the 1960s was that of linguist Dorothy Jones Heydt. It included roots, grammatical rules and syntax, and was used in her own stories and articles, then picked up by a number of other fan authors. The expression ni var, meaning "two forms" and originally referring to an art form in which two elements or aspects of a single subject are contrasted, was used as the title of a fan novella by Claire Gabriel which subsequently appeared (in substantially edited form) in the anthology Star Trek: The New Voyages. The story enjoyed immense popularity among fans as well as with Leonard Nimoy himself. The Vulcan ship Ni'Var, which appeared in an episode of Enterprise, was named after the story; the original association with Heydt's seminal conlang had been forgotten.

@@ Line 105: / Line 105: @@
 ;Falu nenvikh ''valdewizh'' sukfi lorun.
 :''This is the first time you've brought a ''colleague'' home with you.'' ({{ENT|Home}})
+''Tviokh!''
+:- An insult, meaning '''Neighbor''', but one you wish were ''under'' the ground instead of ''on'' it.
 {{bginfo|The Vulcan dialog used in {{film|2}}, {{film|3}} and the [[ENT]] episode {{e|Home}} was translated by linguist [[Marc Okrand]].}}