[605] in tlhIngan-Hol
re: help
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Tue Apr 20 10:32:40 1993
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
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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: Tue, 20 Apr 93 08:45:56 EDT
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 16 Apr 93 15:07:50 EDT."
Here is a copy of the list guidlines. If you wish to subscribe,
please send another message and I'll subscribe you.
Elias Israel
List Administrator
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This message explains the structure of the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list,
how you can post messages to the list, and guidelines for posting
messages. Please read this entire message carefully before you post
anything to the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list.
* 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.
* About 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.
The mailing list is not moderated. However, it will have one or more
"official grammarians" (pabpo'pu'), usually selected from those
speakers who have shown exceptional skill in the use of the Klingon
language. If you are not one of the official grammarians, please do
not post messages of the form: "Your grammar for this sentence was
wrong. It should have been...". Of course, questions and discussions
about grammar or the best usage for a given phrase are welcome from
anyone. Just leave correcting other people's missives to the
grammarians. Adherence to this policy will preclude endless chains of
replies of the form "you should have said..." and will probably remove
grammar flames as well. The grammarians will correct bad grammar
publicly, not to cause anyone shame, but to make sure that everyone
benefits from the example. At the grammarians' discretion, some
corrections may be handled privately when they think that most readers
already know the correct form (and therefore wouldn't want to bothered
with a correction message). If you are interested in being a
grammarian, send your name and email address to
<tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us> for consideration. I don't
want to have too many grammarians (pabpo'mey), so please understand if
I tell you that we already have enough.
* A word about manners
Sadly, many people today don't understand the value of civil behaviour
and its ability to create a pleasant social experience. I don't expect
rudeness to be a problem on the tlhIngan-Hol list, but I won't allow
it to become one, either.
This is a Klingon mailing list: disagreements, conflict, and spirited
exchanges are expected and encouraged. However, rude behaviour towards
fellow readers or repeated comments in poor taste will not be
tolerated, nor will repeated failure to abide by the guidelines of the
list. Repeat offenders will be removed. The list administrator will be
the sole judge of acceptable vs. unacceptable behaviour. The purpose
of these rules is not to limit discussions to "politically correct"
topics (emphatically not!), only to weed out the most offensive
messages and keep a pleasant, if spirited, atmosphere.
* What should postings look like?
Most postings on this list should be fairly short. In particular,
messages in excess of two or three dozen lines should have an obvious
and compelling reason for their length. When you quote someone else in
a reply, make sure that you've attributed the quote properly and that
you've trimmed the quote down to the relevant details. If your reply
contains more lines of quotations than of new text, you should
seriously consider whether you can make do with fewer lines of
quotation.
There are basically two kinds of postings that will appear on this
list:
- Messages about anything, written in Klingon
- Messages about Klingon, written in English
Topics in the first kind of message are essentially unbounded, as
explained above. Talk about the weather, sports, history, medicine,
whatever, as long as you do it in Klingon. The second kind of message
should be used when you want to start a "meta-discussion" like: "How
do I convey the notion that I was doing something continuously for a
while, but now I'm done?" It's best that these discussions are done in
English so that everyone can follow them easily.
Be kind to other readers and indicate which type of message you've
written by writing the subject line either in Klingon for the first
type or English for the second.
* Other Tidbits
Here are a few other guidelines that will make life easier for
everyone:
1. When writing in Klingon, don't transliterate English
proper nouns into Klingon phonemes. As attractive as it
may sound, it will make it hard for other readers (especially
beginners) to follow your text. If you have to use an English
word, just drop it in. The spelling rules are different enough
that it will be more than evident what language it came from.
2. In general, don't use Clipped Klingon; Use only "High"
Klingon in your postings.
3. For your first message, introduce yourself to the list
(in Klingon if you can). Include information about any
"handles" you might be using so that people will know
how to address you.
4. Have Fun.
* Sending messages to the list
Send your messages to the list at this address:
<tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>. When you send messages to the
list, be sure to check your To: and Cc: lines carefully. Some readers
may not want to see their messages redistributed to other mailing
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mailing list to anyone else unless you have permission from the
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If you have a question, comment, or request concerning the mailing
list itself, send it to <tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us> or
to <eli@village.boston.ma.us>.
