[302] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Once more....
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed May 6 02:50:51 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Elias Israel <eli@village.boston.ma.us>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Wed, 06 May 92 02:30:42 EDT
krankor@ima.ima.isc.com (Captain Krankor) writes:
>I'll repost this info again, since we still don't have any system to get
>new subscribers "caught up" on old info...
Which brings up an interesting point, one that I was going to start on
any day now...
It's long past time for us to build a Frequently Asked Questions list.
I've started with a few simple questions, and plan to add more as I
think of them and add the answers. Obviously, it will be done faster if
people on the list submit questions and answers that I can simply review
and put in the FAQ. So, if you have some questions you've asked and the
answers you've gotten, feel free to send them along. If you've got a
point that you think I've missed in the questions I've already compiled,
send that along too.
Here's what I've got so far:
tlhIngan Hol
Frequently Asked Questions
* What is the Klingon language?
The Klingon language is the language of the Klingon Empire, of course.
The language that we recognize in this mailing list is laid out in
Mark Okrand's book _The Klingon Dictionary_ (Pocket Books, ISBN
0-671-74559-X, Approx. US$10). If you don't have a copy of this book,
we recommend strongly that you obtain one before posting to the
mailing list. This will help keep the list from being clogged with
simple vocabulary questions, and will allow you to follow the action
much more easily. If you can't find the book in book stores near you,
you can order a copy directly from Pocket Books by calling their mail
order number at (201) 767-5937.
This language was developed by Mark Okrand for the filming of ST:III
TSFS and has been used ever since whenever Klingon dialogue is called
for in the ST movies and in ST:TNG.
* What is the purpose of the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list?
The purpose of the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list is to provide a forum for
people to exercise their Klingon language skills. No additional
purpose is intended or implied. The topics discussed on the list are
essentially unbounded. In fact, the wider the range of discussions,
the better it will be for everyone trying to expand their skills.
* Is there a Klingon font?
Yes and no. While Klingon text has appeared in various "official"
places, the creators of Star Trek have never indicated what the
orthography of those symbols might be. In the original series, Klingon
text was displayed in what has come to be known as the Mandel glyphs. A
Macintosh version of this font exists as well, developed by Dr. Lawrence
Shoen of the Klingon Language Institute. Unfortunately, this character
set is little more than a different way of encoding english; it doesn't
match tlhIngan Hol very well at all. In ST:TNG, a new set of Klingon
characters has begun appearing. However, these still do not come with a
complete orthography and most kligon text on ST:TNG is composed for
artistic rather than lexical reasons. For more information about this
topic, see "Some Comments on Orthography", HolQeD, Volume 1, Number 1.
* What other forums exist for discussing the Klingon language?
There are many organization dedicated to Klingon fandom, but few whose
charters specifically mention the study and appreciation of the Klingon
language. One notable exception is the Klingon Lanuage Institute, which
has just begun publishing their quarterly journal, HolQeD.
The Klingon Language Institute can be reached at:
KLI
25 Maplewood Road
Lake Forest, IL, USA
60045
Subscriptions to HolQed are US$4 per issue or US$12 yearly in the USA,
US$15 yearly in Canada, and US$18 yearly overseas.
* Do Klingons really mean "what do you want?" when they start
conversations with "nuqneH"?
Although starting every conversation with nuqneH may sound odd to terran
ears, especially when you consider that the literal meaning of that
phrase is indeed "what do you want?", it shouldn't phase the student of
klingon. After all, Hebrew speakers do not really mean "peace" when they
start and end conversations with "shalom", and I believe I've heard of a
Baltic culture that uses a word that translates as "Victory" (Qapla'?)
to start and end conversations. While the choice of these salutatory phrases
may reflect cultural aspects of the speaker and language, the meaning is
always the same: "hello, I recognize you, you may begin talking."
* How do I form verbs that have both an indeterminate subject (-lu')
and the ability suffix (-laH), as in "one can kill prisoners?"
As these are both type 5 suffixes, it is ordinarily impossibly to
combine both of these concepts in one klingon verb. This necessitates
the use of the klingon sentential reference, using the "net" conjunction.
(Section 6.2.5 in TKD) The example above might be rendered as:
qama'pu' HoHlu' net ta'laH
prisoners one kills one is able to
* Can we contact Marc Okrand?
Not yet. He works for the National Captioning Institute and
I still have some hope that he might have an email account somewhere,
but as yet we don't have any really good access to him.
