tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 03 06:46:08 1996
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Re: Is it out there?
According to Ford Prefect:
>
>
> Is it possible to obtain a complete listing of all {tlhIngan-Hol} words to
> date, say in database or text format?
>
> [ I am attempting to build a Klingon language helper from scratch, and need
> some source of data to start the program testing ... I don't really want
> to go into TKD and copy out the list of words... >8O ]
While I understand how you see this as a monumental task,
please realize that I've done it, ~mark has done it several
times, David has done it, Holtej has done it, and probably
several others here have done it. It is actually very
educational (and far less illegal than mass copying copyrighted
material).
For myself, I used Microsoft Word to enter all the words in the
Klingon-English side of the main word list in TKD, all the
while copying and sorting entries into my own English-Klingon
side of the Word document. I then proofread the English-Klingon
side of TKD against my own word list and noted all
discrepancies (hence my title of Annotated Klingon Dictionary).
I then added all the words from the Appendix, noting that they
were from the appendix, and as new words have appeared in the
pages of HolQeD, I've added them to my AKD with notes as to
their source. This way, if I use a word from my AKD and someone
says, "I can't find that word. Where did you get it?" I have an
answer.
I've also tried to catalog canon, but these efforts are
incomplete. Mostly, I have a Word document for the incomplete
transcriptions I've done so far of the two audio tapes and
another document with the text from the trading cards. At least
character searches sometimes prove useful in this format.
I also have copied the word list into a Microsoft Access
database, though I have not made a great deal of use of that
yet. It is probably not up to date. I'm hoping that once I get
moved into my cabin (June, I hope), I'll be a bit more
organized and able to finish these projects.
The point is that working with the word list yourself will help
you a LOT more than passively copying a file. You'll get to
recognize patterns in the word list, both consciously and
subconsciously, which will help you find the word you need,
since your own mind will work as a thesaurus. You'll already
know that "ball" is not in the vocabulary, but "sphere" is,
even if you don't remember the Klingon word for "sphere". If
you don't copy the list word by word yourself, you might very
well never think of the word, "sphere".
> batlh bIyInjaj 'ej batlh bIHeghjaj
>
> [ Do I really need two {batlh}s here? ]
Sure.
> Ford
charghwI'
--
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