tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Dec 15 08:51:28 1994

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Re: Abbridged Klingon Dictionary

According to Niall Hosking:
> 
> > Having said this, I don't think I would recommend that anyone run off an
> > publish a book that compeats with TKD.  We have been enriched by this language
> > that Marc as brought us and I believe that he should enjoy the fruit$ of
> > his labor.
> 
> It'd be wrong to publish something, but making something privately
> available would be different.

Not with current copying technologies. There's nothing stopping
the attitude that copying an AKD is okay from handing it out to
people who don't have TKD.

[stuff about it being better to make your own]
> I agree with the sentiment, but some of us don't have the time or
> facilities to 'acquire' the extra grammar and vocabulary.

It costs me several dollars to make one copy of my AKD, plus
the hassle of having to do it, and it took a lot of hours to
create. Sounds like you'd like me to send you one free, since
an AKD would, by necessity, cost more than back issues of
HolQeD, which you don't have money for. Even if there weren't
the sincere legal and moral concerns of passing out dozens or
hundreds of copies, (and there ARE sincere legal and moral
concerns here), and even if I didn't believe that the education
of creating your own AKD is worth more than the finished
product (and I do sincerely believe this), in response to why
don't I answer requests for copies of my AKD: WHY SHOULD I WANT
TO? It's not a ten page leaflet. The first printing was 148
pages, and as I add canon sitings, it is getting bigger.

The answer is that the only reason I'd do it would be for the
same reasons an author writes a book: money and fame. Well,
fame in a loose sense of the word. Meanwhile, since this is
not my language, I do not deserve either, and no publisher
would print my AKD. The reasons that a publisher would not
print my little tome are the same reasons I should not be
passing it around, wholesale.

OKAY?

> I don't have
> the money to get all the back issues of HolQed, especially not just to
> get the extra words, and it really annoys me to see people saying "I've
> got this cool new AKD, but you can't get a copy - go make your own one,
> and if you can't, bed luck".

I think the message is more, "If you think you can't make your
own AKD, then the truth is you more simply don't want one badly
enough. If you don't want one badly enough, then your complaint
that it should be easier to get is a weak argument. I wish that
a Martin D-28S guitar were easier to get. That's life. Deal with
it. Nobody is going to give me a Martin D-28S, so I'm not going
to give you an AKD. *MY* AKD was not easy for ME to get. I
value it highly, less because it is essential (it is not), but
because I worked hard to make it, and I can continue to make it
better, much like my skills with the language. It is hard work
and it is worth it.

> I'm not saying that anyone is, but i feel
> that it might not do any harm to make something available to people who
> want it. It's fine to recommend that people do their own, but some folks
> will want to get a 'finished' copy.

So, tell me truthfully: If an AKD were freely available for
you, would you still make one yourself?

I didn't think so. Now, do you really think anybody else would
decide differently?

I didn't think so.

> Also, if they are made available, different people's versions (say
> David's and charghwI''s) can be compared and bugs ironed out - there is
> no reason why we can't have a List version available - after all, the
> point of the list is to *aid* learning the language. The AKD could
> always take the form of an *addition* to TKD, so that people still need
> that.

Okay, so if you took the Postal Course and learned the grammar
there and you had an AKD with a complete word list, ummm, why
would you still need TKD? The really cool picture of Kruge on
the cover?

> And if I do have to go and make my own version up, I'd like to have
> something to compare it to eventually - there's no point me doing it if
> I have no idea of how I've done.

I can see comparing notes among those who have gone through
this effort. I compared my AKD to the word list in Holtej's
translator and found errors in both that would have been
difficult to trace without having both to work with. From that
exchange, we were both able to improve our personal tools for
working with the language.

The translator is available, though it lacks the annotations
and works only on the DOS platform. The translator is designed
more as a tool for speed of translating than as one to help
with finer points of useage, like the AKD. It doesn't site
sources. Meanwhile, it is a lot less hassle to copy a couple
files than it is to print 150+ pages.

> > >charghwI' has some other ideas for his AKD and you might ask him to
> > >elaborate if you like.
> 
> Yes, please!
 
I've already posted on this.

> {qSeroHS vayn} - who just wants a complete vocabulary available and
> doesn't mind where it comes from.

How about writing to Pocket Books and asking for a third
edition of TKD?

> -- 
> Niall Hosking
> aka Kserokhs Vaene

charghwI'

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