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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!news.kei.com!MathWorks.Com!solaris.cc.vt.edu!news.ans.net!news.nynexst.com!usenet From: baruch@nynexst.com (Robert Baruch) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.klingon,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: Klingon Language FAQ Followup-To: poster Date: 31 Mar 1994 19:48:25 GMT Organization: Nynex Science & Technology, Inc. Lines: 400 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: <2nf9e9$664@news.nynexst.com> Reply-To: baruch@nynexst.com (Robert Baruch) NNTP-Posting-Host: gallifrey.nynexst.com Summary: This document attempts to store information on resources for the Klingon Language. Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.startrek.klingon:1334 alt.answers:2274 news.answers:17054 Archive-name: klingon-language-faq Last-modified: Tue Jan 11 09:43:03 EST 1994 Frequency: monthly (more frequently when unstabilized by additions) Informational Posting on the Klingon Language alt.startrek.klingon This document attempts to store information on resources for the Klingon Language. Any additions/corrections may be e-mailed to baruch@nynexst.com (Robert Baruch). All prices mentioned herein are as up-to-date as possible. All trademarks are the trademarks of their respective legal entities. All copyrights are copyright their respective legal entities. jabbI'IDvam DamughlaHchugh vIchel Qapla' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents / Dochmeyvam ngaS Dochvam 1. So you want to speak Klingon. vaj tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh 'e' DaneH 2. The Klingon Dictionary. tlhIngan Hol mu'ghom 3. Klingon Language tapes. tlhIngan Hol qawHaq 4. The Klingon Language Institute. tlhIngan Hol yejHaD 5. The Klingon Language Postal Course. tlhIngan Hol navHIjghach SoQ 6. Other Klingon Language Institute sponsored projects. tlhIngan Hol yejHaD numlu'ta'bogh jInmolmey pIm 7. Klingon Language mailing lists. tlhIngan Hol HablI'mey 8. The Klingon writing system. pIqaD 9. Klingon language translation programs tlhIngan Hol mughwI'mey 10. How to handle disparaging or obviously non-Klingon related posts ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. So you want to speak Klingon. vaj tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh 'e' DaneH All those neat harsh-sounding words, saliva flying everywhere, and no words for "please" or "thank you". You knew you just *had* to learn this language, if only to weird out your friends. You need to get a hold of some serious resources. This document will tell you all about those resources. Plan on spending some money. And getting a large supply of napkins. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. The Klingon Dictionary. tlhIngan Hol mu'ghom This is the first reference any student of the Klingon Language should purchase. Half of it is a Klingon-English / English-Klingon dictionary containing approximately 1850 words. The other half is an explanation of Klingon grammar. Make sure you get the 1992 version. This version contains an addendum. Purchasing information follows: Title: The Klingon Dictionary Author: Marc Okrand Publisher: Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster Inc. Year of Publication: 1992 ISBN: 0-671-74559-X Price: US $10 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Klingon Language tapes. tlhIngan Hol qawHaq Yes, S&S realized the financial potential of all those weird Trekkies. Instead of saying, "Get a life!" they said, "Get a tape!" And so we now have two fine cassette tapes, "Conversational Klingon" and "Power Klingon". "Conversational Klingon" is a humorous, extremely condensed form of The Klingon Dictionary. Nevertheless, given that you get to actually hear Marc Okrand, the inventor of the Klingon language, get a sore throat over his Klingon consonants, and given that Michael Dorn, who plays Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation, narrates, this is one tape not to be missed. "Power Klingon" is the successor to "Conversational Klingon". While CK taught the basics of the language, "Power Klingon" moves ahead to provide you with rich details of Klingon cultural events and rituals. My favorite part was the one about mating rituals -- Hey! Slow down! It'll still be there when you get there! Purchasing information follows: Title: Conversational Klingon Author: Marc Okrand Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc. Year of Publication: 1992 Tape Nr: 79739-5 Price: US $12 Title: Power Klingon Author: Marc Okrand and Barry Levine Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc. Year of Publication: 1993 Tape Nr: 87975-8 Price: US $12 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The Klingon Language Institute tlhIngan Hol yejHaD Rather than describing the KLI myself, I'll let this excerpt from the introductory letter of the KLI do the job: Now in its second year of operation, the Klingon Language Institute continues its mission of bringing together individuals interested in the study of Klingon linguistics and culture, and providing a forum for discussion and the exchange of ideas. Our membership is diverse, including Star Trek's fans with curiosity and questions about Klingon language, RP gamers wishing to lend some authenticity to a Klingon character, as well as students and professionals in the fields of linguistics, philology, computer science, and psychology who see the Klingon language as a useful metaphor in the classroom or simply wish to mix vocation with avocation. Though based in the USA, the Institute is actually an international endeavor, presently reaching thirteen countries on six continents. Now doesn't your heart speed up when you read that? The KLI's director is Lawrence M. Schoen, PhD. The KLI publishes the Journal of the Klingon Language Institute, HolQeD. It is sent out four times per year. Various other things, such as sponsored projects, are available through the KLI, and are mentioned elsewhere in this document. Purchasing information follows: Membership: Klingon Language Institute Director: Lawrence M. Schoen, PhD Address: PO Box 634 Flourtown, PA 19031-0634 USA Contact: angghal@aol.com Price: US: $15 Canada: $18 Elsewhere: $21 Institutional: US: $24 Canada: $27 Elsewhere: $30 US funds only. All checks payable to Dr. Lawrence M. Schoen, KLI. Benefits: Subscription to HolQeD, annual KLI Directory, KLI membership card Title: HolQeD [The Journal of the Klingon Language Institute] Publisher: The Klingon Language Institute Editor: Lawrence M. Schoen, PhD ISSN: 1061-2327 Frequency: Four times per year Price: Free w/membership to KLI. $4 per copy ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. The Klingon Language Postal Course. tlhIngan Hol navHIjghach SoQ The Klingon Language Institute is sponsoring an excellent free course by mail. Here's the way it works. To begin, send a self-addressed manilla envelope, big enough for 8-1/2" x 11" papers, stamped with enough postage for a little over one oz. to David Barron, whose address is below. You will get back Lesson One. Learn the lesson, and answer the questions at the end. Send your answers, along with another SASE, back to Mr. Barron. You will get back Lesson Two, along with your corrected answers to Lesson One. The cycle continues until the lessons run out. There are currently about ten lessons. This course presents much of the material of The Klingon Dictionary in a more "bite-sized" form, allowing students to gradually increase their knowledge of Klingon rather than giving it to them a la fire hose. Purchasing information follows: Title: Klingon Language Postal Course Publisher: David Barron Address: PO Box 37 Eagle, ID 83616 USA Contact: barron57@aol.com (208) 939-4287 Tue-Fri 9h-17h MST, Sat 10h-14h MST Price: Free (except for postage) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Other Klingon Language Institute sponsored projects. tlhIngan Hol yejHaD numlu'ta'bogh jInmolmey pIm The KLI currently has four sponsored projects other than the Klingon Language Postal Course. They are the Klingon Writing Project, the Extended Corpus Project, the Klingon Bible Translation Project and the Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project. The Klingon Writing Project accepts fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written in Klingon. There is a proposed annual supplement for KLI members, which presumably will contain the best works. The Extended Corpus Project is "an effort to compile a comprehensive glossary of a Klingon names, terms, and phrases from the multitude of canonical fiction published." The Klingon Bible Translation Project is a project to translate the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures (AKA Old and New Testaments) into Klingon. The Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project seeks to translate Shakespearean prose from English into "the original Klingon". Information on these projects follows: Project: Klingon Writing Project Coordinator: Lawrence M. Schoen, PhD Address: PO Box 634 Flourtown, PA 19031-0634 USA Project: Extended Corpus Project Coordinator: c/o David Sturn Address: PO Box 2832 Auburn, AL 36831-2832 USA Project: Klingon Bible Translation Project Coordinator: Kevin Wilson Address: 409 Prospect Street, Box 330A New Haven, CT 06511 USA Project: Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project Coordinator: Sarah Ekstrom (joyleaf@vnet.net) Address: 730 Lamar Ave. [ may change -- use e-mail ] Charlotte, NC 28204 USA ------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Klingon Language mailing lists. tlhIngan Hol HablI'mey A Klingon Language mailing list is available for those with access to Internet mail. Send e-mail with Subject: subscribe to tlhIngan-Hol-request@klingon.east.sun.com The FAQ for the mailing list will be mailed to you upon subscription. Information relating to translation is present in that FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. The Klingon writing system. pIqaD There have been several Klingon writing systems published, but there is really only one which is correct. Basically, there are three types of writing systems -- the Mandel set, the Paramount set, and everything else. The Mandel set is reputed to be the first Klingon writing system. It is in one-to-one correspondence to the English alphabet, which makes it unsuitable for writing in Klingon. It is solely used for artistic appeal. This set should not be used. The Paramount set is the correct Klingon writing system. It is in one-to-one correspondence with the Klingon phoneme set. As such, it can be used for writing in Klingon. The KLI supports the use of this set. Displays in Star Trek movies and ST:TNG which use this set don't really say anything in Klingon -- the letters are used for artistic appeal. Everything else is basically a sorry attempt to fit the English alphabet to Klingon. They never work, and should not be used. A Postscript font on disk of pIqaD -- both the Mandel set and the Paramount set -- is available through the KLI for US $13. Mac/Type I and Mac/TrueType are also available. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Klingon language translation programs tlhIngan Hol mughwI'mey No, really. They're very difficult to write, especially for us amateur linguists ;-) There are several translation programs being worked on. I am working on a C++/yacc E-to-K version in my spare time. Too bad I have had so little spare time recently... If you would like to be listed as a translation program developer here, please e-mail me. Try to use the format for developers below, but don't restrict yourself to it. If you have something which doesn't fit easily into the format then break out of the format to tell me about it. Developer information follows: Name: Robert Baruch (baruch@nyenxst.com) Direction: English to Klingon OS: UNIX Program Name: parse (so far) Summary: Uses C++ and yacc to parse English sentences. Can handle ambiguous translations by outputting multiple translations for each interpretation. Devel. Stat: v0.1 complete. v0.2 under development Archive: habli.tamu.edu(128.194.170.67):/parser/etok01.tgz Most impressive sentence translated: "my definite friends can not see your supposed big blue serpents" gharghmeyqoqraj tIn SuD leghlaHbe' juppu'na'wIj gharghmeyqoqlIj tIn SuD leghlaHbe' juppu'na'wIj Name: Rick Klement (rick@infoserv.com) Direction: Klingon to English OS: UNIX (but pretty much generic C) Program Name: mugh (of course) Summary: Uses C and a data file with the words (by type) in it. I started in lex but the compiles were getting too long. It understands verb prefixes and all verb and noun suffixes in order, and tries for the best match. It makes no attempt to produce good English, but just does the lookups for you. Devel. Stat: Complete; adding more words. Archive: none Most impressive sentence translated: N/A ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. How to handle disparaging or obviously non-Klingon related posts I know, what is this doing in a Klingon language FAQ? Because too often I've seen net.flame.wars erupt over trivialities, and the 'fan' newsgroups usually bear the brunt of it, because fans are *very* easy to rile. A typical disparaging post on this newsgroup could be a "Klingons suck" post, or a "Get a life" post. You know what non-Klingon related posts are -- the Jesus-is-coming posts, the recent "Blacknet" post, etc. Flame wars aren't fun. They are unpleasant for others to view, even though they might be fun for the participants. So, here are some suggestions which I've seen actually work: A: Ignore. This clearly works with non-Klingon related posts. It is *true* that eventually the poster will go away -- what fun is it to bait net.readers who refuse to bite? No replies, and no mention of the post at all in any other posts. A disparaging post will often not contain any rational basis. Hence, there can be no rational reply. Ad hominem arguments do not form a rational basis, and so cannot be replied to in a rational way. B: Respond in Klingon. If a disparager wants to, he can learn Klingon to find out what was said. Do not include a single word of English -- otherwise a convenient handle is given to continue the silliness. C: Don't be too quick to take offense. When emotions run high, so will the mud-slinging. Ignore the mud-slinging; stick to the subject at hand. A discussion can degenerate all too easily because of a single off-hand statement. Similarly, some people will post remarks which can give offense but which have some indicator which shows that the remarks are given tongue-in-cheek. Emoticons are the correct netiquette here, but it's not reasonable to assume that every user knows netiquette. In summary, don't do the expected, responding at the same level. Always remember that there are at least hundreds of people watching you. Some will choose to make fools out of themselves in front of an audience; that is their problem, not yours. Finally, these aren't edicts. They have been proven to work (except for 'B', and theory is sound). Try them!