In numerous sci-fi shows and films over the last few years, there has been an increasing usage of "alien" dialogue. In most cases, this is just made up garbage, but Star Trek is probably the ONLY series ever to have had a language actually created for the series, namely Klingon.
Why am I telling you this? Well, last year, a revised edition of the book, "The Klingon Dictionary" was released by the language's creator Marc Okrand (through Pocket Books) and recently an audio cassette, "Conversational Klingon" was released to help any budding Klingon linguists to learn this difficult language. Are they any good? Is it really possible to learn the language? I tried my hand at it, and this is what I think of the "tutorial" packages!
The book is an A5 sized publication, split into several distinct sections. The book kicks off with a short introduction on the Klingon language, seemingly written by a Federation official! Following this is a brief guide to the pronunciation of Klingon sounds, some of which, I might hasten to add, are rather painful, or at least very uncomfortable to pronounce!
After that, the book goes into quite heavy detail about Klingon grammar, use of nouns, verbs, pronouns etc, syntax, the Klingon number system and everything you need to know about holding down a basic discussion in Klingon.
Following this, the book enters the dictionary proper. This is a two-part section featuring a vast list of words and their translations, both from English-Klingon and vice versa. Finally, is a very useful (well, for tourists intending to visit Kronos, anyway!) mini phrase book featuring such essential phrases such as, "Where is the bathroom?", "I cannot speak Klingon" and, the most important of all, "Where do you keep the chocolate"!!!
All of that only occupies 172 out of the 191 pages. This first section comprises the original version of the book. The latter part, in the form of an addendum, is the revisions and new words/phrases as used in TNG, and some of the latter movies, up to and including Star Trek VI.
Overall, it's a good book, but I can't really see many people other than the die-hard Trekkers who'd be willing to spend money on this. However, it makes for an interesting challenge trying to translate various Klingon statements from episodes or to translate well- known Trek phrases into Klingon. For example, try your hand at these:-
1. nI'yIn je chep
2. Scotty, jol yIchu'
3. vImuS yIHpu'
4. Qel jIH, jonwI' jIHbe'
(English translations at the end of this article)
Whether this book is of any use to you is really a matter of opinion. Like any other language, Klingon isn't easy to learn, but if you're willing to percevere (although I can't really see why as you'll have no-one else to talk to!) or if you're a writer after some authentic Klingon dialogue, then go for it! Others would be advised to buy it only if they have nothing better to spend their money on! With saying that, it IS a good book, if a little unusual in it's subject matter.
Before I say anything about this cassette, this is NOT a pure adaptation of the book! Although the book itself is great, it just doesn't really lend itself to an audio format so, intelligently, the author Marc Okrand has completely re-wriiten the book in the form of a "Tourist's Guide To Klingon" and has adopted a similar style to that often found in phrase books you can buy when travelling overseas.
When I started listening to the cassette, I was greatly disappointed to find that, although the cover mentions both Michael Dorn AND Marc Okrand as presenting the tape, Michael Dorn is relegated to simply performing the narrative and ALL of the Klingon dialogue and instruction is left to Marc Okrand. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as no-one else knows the language and its pronunciation better than Marc Okrand, but some fans may feel a little cheated at not hearing any Klingon from Michael Dorn.
The tape follows the basics you'd need to know to hold down a simple conversation while visiting any Klingon planet, from hurling insults to booking into hotels, counting and some of the basics covered in the book. Other topics include shopping (including the hazzards of encountering Klingon salesmen!) and asking for information from Klingons you may meet on your travels!
Where the tape really differs from the book is the sense of humour found on it. When Michael Dorn introduces the tape, he gives a serious warning about the levels of spitting to be expected when learning Klingon, and later on Marc Okrand offers some rather interesting illustrations of the numbering system!
Overall, it's quite a good tape although I can't really see anyone listening to it more than once or twice unless you actually want to learn Klingon. However, if you do, then buy both the book and the tape and you'll be off to a great start! Qapla'!
1. Live long and prosper
2. Beam me up, Scotty!
3. I hate Tribbles!
4. I'm a doctor, not an engineer!