The Klingon Dictionary is a book by Marc Okrand describing the Klingon language. First published in 1985 and then again with an addendum in 1992, it includes pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. It has been an international bestseller, selling more than a half-million copies.[citation needed]
The book is a mere description of the grammar with few examples for every rule. It is not suitable for active learning and practice of the language, because it does not contain any exercices. It has never been intended as a learning book. Its source was intended as a guide for scriptwriters and actors. It was only later sold for merchandising for Star Trek fans.[1]
Summary [edit]
The dictionary is written from a point of view from inside the fictive universe of Star Trek, that means in a manner pretending the klingons do exist. After a brief introduction about the Klingon culture and also how the book has been written, the pronunciation of the Klingon letters is described. Instead of using phonetic symbols, the letters of the latin alphabet are used, some of them written in upper case to distinguish special pronunciations (for instance q and Q). The largest part of the book is a description of the grammar, including briefly described rules sorted by type of words, accompanied by few examples for each grammatical topic. The last part of the book contains a list of vocabulary with roughly 1,500 words, followed by a list of useful phrases. The addendum of 1992 contains some new grammatical details and a list of about 200 new words that appeared in or were created for later movies and in the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Digital editions [edit]
Since 2008 the book is available for E-book readers.[2]
In 2009, publisher Simon & Schuster introduced an iPhone application version of The Klingon Dictionary as part of three applications rolled into a Klingon Language Suite. The new digital format features a precise pronunciation guide, rules for proper use of affixes and suffixes, and a search menu.
Translations [edit]
The dictionary was first translated into German in 1996 bearing the title „Das offizielle Wörterbuch Klingonisch/Deutsch“ (i.e. The official dictionary Klingon-German). This book contains lots of typos and incorrect translations which can be misleading when learning the language.[3] A revised version of the book will be published in May 2013.[4]
The italian translation was published 1998 by the roman publisher Fanucci Editore and named „Il dizionario Klingon-Italiano“.
In 2008, the dictionary has been translated into the Czech language with the title „Klingonský slovník“.
Trivia [edit]
- In the season 2 episode „The Panty Piñata Polarization“ of The Big Bang Theory, the dictionary is being used during a game of Klingon Boggle.
See also [edit]
External links [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://www.angelfire.com/trek/yensw/PDF/thesis.pdf
- ^ http://www.amazon.de/The-Star-Trek-Dictionary-ebook/dp/B003BFXAQM
- ^ http://www.qephom.de/d/dowfehler.html
- ^ http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/3868526889/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/277-4328680-3005821
