tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 22 10:58:45 1996

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British Klingon! (Interview with Okrand)

Following on with the premier British television magazine 'Radio Times'
doing a special for Star Trek's 30th Anniversary, they have published a
special 168 page book for the price of #6.99 pounds sterling. In it, is
a series of interviews with cast and production staff, information on
various people connected with the series, and the most up-to-date
listing of episodes and movies I have yet seen in one place (all of
Classic, TNG, DS9 and Voyager to date)

The most interesting bit from this list's viewpoint is a 4-page spread
where Mark Okrand is interviewed by 'Radio Times'. It mentions some
interesting facts about the language's origin (based on influences from
American Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian languages) as taken from
James Doohan and Mark Lenard. Mention is made of the KLI, as well as
Glen Proechel's summer Language Camps, and of the various tlhIngan Hol
products available. There is even a discussion of 'klingonaase', which
Okrand likes! (He says that it's good to see that people are realising
that in an 'Empire', there would be more than *one* language form.)

Also...as an added bonus...'Radio Times' got Marc okrand to translate a
few *British* phrases for readers! So, here is some new canon tlhIngan
Hol for the British!

There are ten phrases, reproduced as English phrases (of unfortunate
'Englishness' [as opposed to Britishness?]), Klingon translations, and a
literal transliteration in English below:

1.  We are U.K. Klingons!	wo' tay' tlhInganpu' maH!
	We are together Empire Klingons!

2.  Come along then.		Ha'.
	Let's go.

3.  Give us a kiss, love.	HIchop, bang.
	Bite me, love.

4.  Spot of tea?		Dargh DaneH'a'?
	Do you want tea?

5.  Beam me up, mate		HIjol, jup.
	Beam me up, friend.

6.  Not bloody likely!		ghaytanHa' jay'!
	Not &*@%# likely!

7.  Be quick about it.		tugh.
	Hurry up.

8.  Cricket, please.		DaH ghew yIQuj.
	Play bug now (Klingon has no word for cricket the game; "ghew"
	can mean "bug, "cootie" or "insect").

9.  Let's go to the pub.		tach vI'el, HItlhej.
	I am going to the bar. Accompany me.

10. What has Lady Di done now?	DaH nuq ta'pu' Day joH?
	What has Lord/Lady Di accomplished now? (the title "joH".
	meaning "Lord", is also used for a woman, ie. "Lady")

These are the direct quotes from the article (punctuation and all).

In summary, there is some new vocabulary (at least, new usages [a la
TKW])

wo' tay'		United Kingdom (n)
chop			kiss (n)
ghaytanHa'		unlikely, not likely (adv)
ghew			"Cricket" (n)
tach			pub (n)
Day			Di (n) (name)

Have fun with all this, and I look forward to more queries about this
fun, informative article (it even has a picture of Okrand!)

qSeroHS {Scot}'e'
-- 
Niall Hosking
aka Kserokhs Vaene
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.gla.ac.uk/Clubs/WebSoc/~884744ho

'Practise random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.'

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