County research has shown that Klingon has gone from being a fictional tongue to what many people — and not just fans — consider a complete language, with its own grammar, syntax and vocabulary.
If a patient speaks only Klingon, the county is obligated to respond with a Klingon interpreter. So officials have decided to include it with about 55 languages, some of which, such as Russian and Vietnamese, are widely spoken, and some, such as Dari and Tongan, are seldom spoken.
The county’s purchasing administrator, Franna Hathaway, greeted the request to include Klingon with skepticism.
But, she said, “There are some cases where we’ve had mental health patients where this was all they would speak.”
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by Chris Barrus