Klingon

 
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Hm. Now, If I'm the one holding the phaser, why do I looked stunned? And yes, I know I look more like Riker than any particular security officers...
  • What is Klingon?
  • Progress Reports
  • Note on pIqaD
  • Hamlet Excerpt
  • What is Klingon?

    Klingon is a language invented by linguist Mark Okrand for the Star Trek movie series. It has been used extensively in the movie series, and to a lesser extent (and with much less precision) in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. It has its share of grammatical quirks (though not as many as it might); a quite small vocabulary, forcing much resourcefulness on anyone who would use it non-trivially; and a dedicated band of users, grouped together under the Klingon Language Institute. A wealth of information on Klingon can be found at the Canon Klingon Dictionary Project.

    Progress Reports

    As of the last revision date below, this is the current status of the Klingon language projects I am involved with. If no status is noted, the project is complete.
    Much Ado About Nothing.
    Published (2001), Klingon Language Institute.
    Hamlet (in collaboration with Andrew "Guido#1" Strader (prose translator) and Mark Shoulson (text reviewer)).
    Published; first edition (1996), Klingon Language Institute, out of print; second (paperback) edition produced by Pocket Books, 2000 and available.
    Sonnets.
    9 out of 154:
    Gospel According to Mark. (Text; HTML)
    Christmas Carols.
    Various Songs.
    Scots Songs.
    Translation of TNG Episodes A Matter of Honor and Reunion.
    Done. While I was in Glasgow, the Klingon parts in Reunion were recorded.
    The First Epistle by John.
    Not even started.
    Klingon Localisation Project
    Before the project (aimed at producing a Klingon Language Kit for the Macintosh) folded, I translated the SimpleText editor resources into Klingon.

    Hamlet Excerpt

    The following is a teaser from the translation of Hamlet I was involved with. It is the first half of the soliloquy, in Klingon script, romanised Klingon, literal translation into English, 'crude Terran Forgery', and Klingon audio.

    [SOUND] Also on audio!
    Romanised Klingon text
    'Crude Terran Forgery'
    taH pagh taHbe'. DaH mu'tlheghvam vIqelnIS.
    To be, or not to be: --- that is the question: ---
    quv'a', yabDaq San vaQ cha, pu' je SIQDI'?
    Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
      The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
    pagh, Seng bIQ'a'Hey SuvmeH nuHmey SuqDI',
    Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
    'ej, Suvmo', rInmoHDI'? Hegh. Qong --- Qong neH ---
    And by opposing end them? --- To die: --- to sleep; ---
    'ej QongDI', tIq 'oy', wa'SanID Daw''e' je
    No more; and by a sleep to say we end
    cho'nISbogh porghDaj rInmoHlaH net Har.
    The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
      That flesh is heir to, --- 'tis a consummation
    yIn mevbogh mIwvam'e' wIruchqangbej.
    Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, --- to sleep; ---
    Hegh. Qong. QongDI' chaq naj. toH, waQlaw' ghu'vam!
    To sleep! perchance to dream: --- ay, there's the rub;
    HeghDaq maQongtaHvIS, tugh nuq wInajlaH,
    For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
    volchaHmajvo' jubbe'wI' bep wIwoDDI';
    When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
    'e' wIqelDI', maHeDnIS. Qugh DISIQnIS,
    Must give us pause: there's the respect
    SIQmoHmo' qechvam. Qugh yIn nI'moH 'oH.
    That makes calamity of so long life.

    It either endures, or it does not endure. Now, I must consider this sentence.
    Is it honourable, when one endures the torpedoes and phasers of agressive fate?
    Or, when one obtains weapons to fight a seeming ocean of troubles,
    And when, by fighting, one finishes them? One dies. One sleeps. One merely sleeps.
    And when one sleeps, its is believed that one can finish the pain of the heart
    And the thousand revolts which one's body must succeed to.
    We are certainly willing to initiate this way to finish life.
    One dies. One sleeps. When one sleeps, perhaps one dreams. Well, this situation seems to be the obstacle!
    What we can soon dream of, while sleeping in death,
    Having thrown away from our shoulders the cargo of the mortal ---
    When we consider that, we must retreat. We must endure disasters,
    Because this idea makes us endure them. It lengthens the life of the disasters.

    [Klingon script version]

    Nick Nicholas, opoudjis [AT] optusnet . com . au
    Created: 1995; Last revision: 2003-06-14
    URL: http://www.opoudjis.net/Klingon/klingon.html