Vulcan language

The Vulcan language was the language spoken by the Vulcans of the planet .
Vulcan names as spoken and written among non-Vulcans were, at best, only approximations of actual Vulcan names. Correct pronunciations using non-Vulcan phonemes, and accurate type-setting – using, for instance, the Roman alphabetical nucleus of the English language – had a tendency to prove non-native efforts to reproduce Vulcan family names highly inadequate. ()
== Written language ==
The Vulcan written language had several different forms, some of which combined with each other.
A dreidel-like children's toy (seen on Romulus) bore the "syllabic nucleus of the Vulcan language." ()
In 2370, Jean-Luc Picard identified an artifact recovered from Calder II as being from Vulcan, because the alphabet and symbology of the glyphs and pictograms on the artifact was much more consistent with early Vulcan than the Romulan language. ()
The primary version resembled terrestrial musical notes and was written in vertical columns running top-to-bottom, left-to-right. The primary Vulcan script consisted of a central staff, along which spirals, long and short dashes, and dots were written. ()
Some Vulcan Offshoots cultures used musical notes as words. () 
In 2375, the Logicians, a baseball team founded by Captain of the , wore uniforms with their names on the back in Vulcan script. ()
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 the monastery at P'Jem. Several s which were later used to depict a map of the catacombs beneath the monastery also had Vulcan symbols engraved. Two of the three stones used by to display a set of three light sources featured the IDIC symbol. ()
A version of this script appeared on the Promenade of Deep Space 9. (DS9 set decoration)
File:Vulcan writings at P'Jem monastery.jpg|Ancient Vulcan signage at P'Jem
File:T'Pol's book text.png|T'Pol's book (2152)
File:Vulcan teapot.jpg|Script on a teapot (2259)
File:Book with Vulcan script.jpg|D'Tan's book (2368)
File:Kira by Promenade directory in Behind The Lines.jpg|Promenade signage in Vulcan (lower left) (2374)
A second writing system consisted of simple squiggles, spirals, and dots, and could be used separately or in tandem with the primary script. A sequence of several symbols from this script appeared on many forms of Vulcan clothing. This script was also written vertically. (; ; , et al.)
File:T'Pol's transmission.png|Two scripts alongside each other (2151)
File:Kuvak in robes.jpg|Characters commonly found on Vulcan robes (2154)
File:Montgomery Scott, 2286.jpg|On Vulcan cargo containers (2286)
A third cuneiform-like script appeared on Vulcan starship hulls and in some Vulcan homes and temples. This script appeared to run left-to-right, like many Terran languages. (; )
File:Surak shuttle, aft quarter.jpg|Shuttlecraft Surak (2270s)
File:Vulcan memory test wall script.jpg|Memory test wall script (2286)
== Spoken language ==
The Vulcan language was related to the Romulan language. In the alternate reality caused by Nero's incursion, Lieutenant , the communications officer of the was unable to distinguish Vulcan from Romulan. However, Nyota Uhura, who was fluent in all three Romulan dialects, could easily distinguish the two languages. ()
In a dream, Malcolm Reed imagined that T'Pol displayed romantic interest in him, suggesting his name resembled "mol-kom", a Vulcan word for "serenity." ()
A young Michael Burnham asked Sarek to teach her Vulcan so she could perform better in her schooling at the Vulcan Learning Center. Sarek reminded her that it was not her Human tongue that was the problem, but her Human heart. ()
When the encountered a Melkotian buoy in 2268, it spoke to the crew in their native languages, which included the Vulcan language, as heard by Spock. ()
=== Words and phrases ===
*Arev – Desert wind ()
*Bilak par – Self-pity ()
*Dif-Tor heh Smusma – Live long and prosper ()
*Fal-tor-voh – A mind meld-based treatment for a neurodegenerative disease ()
*Gespar – A Vulcan fruit ()
*K'oh-nar – A feeling of being completely exposed, embarrassed ()
*Kal-if-fee – Challenge ()
*Kar-i-far – Begin ()
*Katra – Living spirit ()
*Keethera – Structure of harmony ()
*Koon-ut-kal-if-fee – "Marriage or challenge" ()
*Koon-ut-so'lik – Marriage; Proposal ()
*Kroykah – Stop!; Enough! ()
*L'tak Terai – A type of learning disability ()
*Le-matya – An animal ()
*Navorkot – A Suus Mahna technique ()
*Nirak – Fool ()
*Nome – All ()
*Plak tow – Blood fever ()
*Pleenok – A children's educational tool ()
*Pok tar – A food ()
*Pyllora – A telepathic guide ()
*Qui'lari – A bioelectric focal point ()
*Sehlat – An animal ()
*Shon-ha'lock – the engulfment; "love at first sight" ()
*Soo-lak – An individual who trivializes the emotional attachment of another ()
*Surah'tahn – A neuro-pressure posture ()
*Suus Mahna – A martial art ()
*T'san s'at – The lifelong management of emotion ()
*Tal-shaya – A deadly martial art technique ()
*Tasmeen – One of Vulcan's months ()
*Vokau – Remember ()
*V'Shar – A security agency ()
*V'tosh ka'tur – "Vulcan's without logic" ()
*Vokaya – A mineral ()
==== Rituals ====
*Fal-tor-pan – A katra transference ritual. ()
*Fullara – A ritual to repress memories ()
*Kahs-wan – A ritual test of maturity ()
*Kal Rekk – A holiday of solitude and silence ()
*Pon farr – The time of mating ()
*Rumarie – An obsolete pagan festival ()
*Tal-Shanar – A private ritual ()
*Tarul-etek – A ritual to provoke an emotional response ()
*Tokmar – A ritual to bring lost ones home ()
=== Examples of spoken language ===
;Sochya eh Dif
:Peace and Long Life
----
;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. ()
----
;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. ()
----
;Saavik wimish. Kup-stariben?
:I am Saavik. Can you speak?
;Dom – ki'sarlah
:So, it has come
;Dungi tu sahrafel?
:Will you trust me? ()
----
;Chaya t'not
:Expression of gratitude; equivalent to English "Thank you".
;Ponfo miran
:Go to hell. ()
----
;Ishtaya kulah. Vestal ma etak J'Kah.
:A traditional Vulcan litany. ()
:*
----
;Shanshot tulara komosh.
:Vanik to T'Pol, after Captain Archer's dinner invitation did not go smoothly. ()
:*
----
;T'nar pahk sarat y'rani
:A greeting spoken by T'Pol to Ambassador V'Lar.
;T'nar jaral.
:Ambassador V'Lar's response.
;Pash tah.
:Good night. ()
----
;Tiar merra.
:T'Pol repeated this while trapped in the decontamination chamber during her artificially triggered pon farr. ()
----
;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. ()
----
;Tulek tu.
:You are the vessel.
;Vokau.
:Remember. ()
----
;FAK-saith pahn-ak-TORR … dzoh shin-AH. pon-aht PLAK-toe-fahl … KAH-trah kah-NESH.
:A Vulcan incantation spoken during attempted transfer of a katra from another person to the speaker of the incantation. ()
----
;Nehn glomahk uskahfu sivusi.
:You're tending a plant that is dead. ()
----
;Nenlohk dwon zeesh…Michael.
:I love you, Michael. ()
== Appendices ==
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=== Background information ===
==== Development ====
The roots of the Vulcan spoken language can be traced back to a memo that Gene Roddenberry sent to 's director, Robert Wise, on . Roddenberry pointed out there were "many arguments" for the creation of such a language and suggested that, as the film also included Klingon language, "it may feel something like a 'cheat' to do the Vulcan scene in King James-type English." He additionally admitted that inventing a Vulcan language would take considerable work, before discussing how the language could be dubbed into the film, as required. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 198) 
For the development of the Vulcan language, Roddenberry actually turned to a University of California, Los Angeles, linguistics professor, Hartmut Scharfe. Then Associate Producer Jon Povill elaborated, "The Vulcan masters were actually shot and recorded speaking English. Eventually, we decided we didn't like the way it sounded and we didn't like the way it played in English. It was Gene's idea to try and find other words that would synch up to the English mouthing which would not sound anything at all like English, and that's how the Vulcan Language came about. We got this professor from the linguistics department at UCLA, Hartmut Scharfe, and he constructed a Vulcan language for us very well. In fact, I think Hartmut is, in voiceover, one of the Vulcans." Scharfe incidentally, also constructed on that occasion the Klingon language, but unlike his Vulcan, that was edited by Povill and James Doohan because "his Klingonese didn't sound alien enough." (Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 260-261)
By , Marc Okrand was credited as "Translator: Vulcan" (for Spock and Saavik's brief conversation.) Okrand would also contribute spoken Vulcan for , ENT Season 4, and . 
==== Written script ====
The vertical-spiral script was first conceptualized by Mike Okuda, who hand-drew the pages of D'Tan's book (with the help of Guy Vardaman) for . 
The writing seen in "The Andorian Incident" on the reliquary archway is based on the Vulcan symbols seen on Spock's robe in . ("The Andorian Incident", text commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD special feature)
In the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, several Vulcan costume descriptions refer to Rata ("concept"), Tafar ("discipline"), and Tapan ("process") as background names for a trinity of symbols or letters that appeared together often on Vulcan robes, starting with Sarek in . 
=== Deleted content ===
The Vulcan language was originally to have been used in (then titled "Court Martial at Star Base 811"). In the first draft story outline of that episode, Spock, while testing a suspicious computer system that had been acting as prosecutor at James T. Kirk's court martial, asked the computer a string of questions in what the document called "his native tongue." However, the language was incomprehensible to everyone else in the courtroom except the computer.
The writers' second draft script of included a conversation about the Vulcan language, in preparation for hailing the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur. First, Hoshi Sato asked if the communication should be sent in Vulcan. Though T'Pol encouraged her to send it in English instead, Captain Jonathan Archer decided that the transmission should indeed be run through Enterprises universal translator, to avoid the risk of insulting anyone by making assumptions.
A Vulcan expression of congratulations which was included in the first draft script of but not in the final draft of that script (nor in the episode itself) was "pontal na'sochya".
=== Apocrypha ===
The Vulcan language has also appeared in numerous non-canon works over the years, such as the following dialogue 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.
;Tviokh!
:An insult, meaning Neighbor, but one you wish were under the ground instead of on it. 
TOS fan folklore included the word pastak, supposedly the Vulcan word for peace. Fans wished one another pastaklan vesla, "peaceful thoughts". There was also a fanzine by this name.
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 , which appeared in an episode of Enterprise, was named after the story; the original association with Heydt's seminal conlang had been forgotten.
=== External link ===
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de:Vulkanische Sprache
fr:Vulcain (langue)
pl:Język Wolkański