A Klingon Surprise

And now, a small surprise both for this blog and for followers of Klingon Teachings.

tlhejwI', qoch - A Klingon Love Poem

Companion, Partner - translated from the original Klingon

Viva Voce, 2013 05 22, 20:00

The last Viva Voce open mic poetry recital of the 2012/2013 season is tonight, at Saith Seren, Wrexham, at 20:00. I could be persuaded to recite poetry in Klingon tonight.

More information after the event. Watch this space.

New Blog - Klingon Teachings

I have created a new blog, dedicated to teaching the basics of tlhIngan Hol Klingon language.

I'm acknowledged across the UK as a pretty experienced expert on Klingon, and I have frankly tried making Klingon accessible to the general population for more than twenty years, now. And with Star Trek Into Darkness (poH mIgh 'el Hov leng) in the cinemas right now, this seems as good a time as any.

I began with the introductory post nuqneH. This said a little about the blog, and what it aims to do.

It was followed by this post, showing fifty highly useful Klingon nouns. A basic vocabulary which you can access regularly while learning the words off by heart.

So, then, tlhIngan paQDI'norgh is a go as of 2013 05 20. I hope you will stick with it, and learn enough Klingon to amaze and astonish your friends. Qapla'!

tlhejwI', qoch

bangwI' ghaH.
tlhejwI'wI', bangwI',
qochwI' je.
mIr ghorbe'lu'bogh
nurarchuqbogh 'oH
parmaqmaj'e'.
mawIvchuq rIntaH.

montaHvIS muSeymoH,
muvuQtaH je.
tIqwIj teb wovDaj.
matlhejtaHvIS
jIngotlhchoH
'ej jIqu'choH.
not mamuSchuqchoH.

qaStaHvIS ram nong,
Hovmey leghlu'taHvIS bIngDaq,
matlhejchuqtaHvIs,
mamobtaHvIS,
qa'wIj meQmoH;
parmaqmajmo'
mu'mey teH vIbom,
'ej ghogh HoS vIlo'.
jIghIj 'e' vI'anglaH
'ej mutuHmoHQo'.

Edit: I wrote this for one of the radio interviews I did recently. I wrote it in the studio just before the interview, in sight of the show's producer, much to his amazement.

I've since edited and improved upon it.

All Fired Up

The Jason Mohammad segment is shortly to begin on BBC Radio Wales.

I've been given the early morning wakeup call by the producer, and they are ready to roll from around 10:00 am. My part in this segment is due to start around 10:30 am.

I am all fired up for this interview, and equally fired up with enthusiasm for the screening of Star Trek Into Darkness later on tonight - and for my quiet meal with my plus one beforehand.

I've got a plus one to the event.

Let me restate that. I have got a plus one to come with me to the event.

With that in mind, here is a shortlist of the Klingon phrases I shall try to sneak in to the interview, among other interviews I shall make this month:-

Set Klingon phrases
I shall be using

What do you want?	nuqneH
What did you say?	nuqjatlh
Star Trek	Hov leng
movie	jabbI''ID
Star Trek Into Darkness	poH mIgh 'el Hov leng
Success!	Qapla'
2013 05 09	cha'SaD wa'maH wej DIS, vagh jar, Hut jaj tera' poH
Star Trek Into Darkness has its premiere today.	DaHjaj wa'DIch poH mIgh 'el Hov leng jabbI''ID 'anglu'
Watch this show as soon as possible	narghpa' 'eb tugh jabbI'IDvam boleghnIS
Do you speak Klingon?	tlhIngan Hol dajatlhlaH'a'
Yes.	HIja'
No.	ghobe'

Wish me success. The phone interview should begin any minute now. Qapla'!

Edit: Interview done.

Two gems from that interview:-

‘The Klingon for “Do you speak Klingon?” is a bit of a tongue twister if you’re not used to it. It’s tlhIngan Hol DajatlhlaH’a’? and if you do understand Klingon, you say HIja’ or HISlaH meaning yes, and if you don’t, you say “Sorry, but I don’t speak Klingon.”’

poH mIgh 'el Hov leng jabbI''ID The movie, "Star Trek Into Darkness"

'Of course the title "Star Trek Into Darkness" has to be poH mIgh 'el Hov leng Star Trek Enters An Evil Time where poH mIgh means evil time, a metaphorical dark rather than a physical dark, since the Enterprise is always travelling into the dark all the time, because that's what space is.'

More Klingon Stuff

Just digging around for references to Star Trek and Klingon, the links to various articles from old interviews keep turning up.

Daily Post article

North Wales Extra

Broadside Online Oh, dear Gods, they dug this one up ...

What has been seen cannot be unseen ...

The following article is about me ...

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/red-carpet-treatment-klingon-expert-3408642

Red carpet treatment for Klingon expert at cinema

All the stops pulled out for him as the launch of Star Trek Into Darkness approaches

AN IT expert who speaks fluent Klingon will be given the red carpet treatment when a cinema premieres the new Star Trek movie.

Alex Greene has been appointed an unofficial Klingon Ambassador to Wales by staff at the The Odeon cinema in Wrexham’s Eagles Meadow shopping centre as they prepare for the big night.

The cinema will be one of the first in the UK to screen the long-awaited Star Trek Into Darkness at precisely one minute past midnight on Thursday.

Alex's grasp of the intergalactic language is so good that he even writes poetry in Klingon. He will be given free passage to take his place in the audience for the latest voyage of the iconic starship Enterprise and its brave crew.

The 49-year-old is one of the country’s leading experts on the language of the Klingons, the fierce warrior race who have been the implacable foes of Captain James Kirk and his comrades since they first embarked on their intergalactic adventures on TV in the 1960s.

Alex, of Wrexham, has been specially invited to the early morning first screening by Odeon manager Andy Elvis.

During the latest installment of the Star Trek story the Enterprise battles against an unstoppable force of terror from within their organisation – and Kirk leads a manhunt to a war zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

Alex, who works as a freelance computer expert, has been a dedicated Trekkie since an early age. He decided to learn Klingon in 1986 – and took a year to master its considerable intricacies.

He said: “I have always enjoyed languages, listening to them and communicating with them. Up to 1986 it had been French, Japanese and Esperanto.

“Then a language specialist came up with an actual working grammar for Klingon for one of the Star Trek movies. It was designed so that actors could easily learn a couple of lines for a script. But later a Klingon dictionary was published. I picked up a copy and learned Klingon.”

Alex was recently hired by a large corporation – he can’t reveal which one – to translate abstracts of some of its scientific documents into Klingon. And S4C invited him to try to teach singer Shân Cothi and naturalist Iolo Williams some Klingon when they visited Wrexham to film for the Bro series.

Alex can’t wait to see the latest Star Trek offering, which stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana. He said: “I believe Star Trek Into Darkness – which in Klingon is ‘poH mIgh 'el leng Hov’ – features a lot of stunning imagery that the earlier films did not have. I’m just hoping it stays faithful to the original vision of its creator Gene Roddenberry.

Odeon manager Andy Elvis said: “We’re very fortunate to have such a renowned expert on Klingon – we just had to invite Alex to be one of the first to see Star Trek Into Darkness.”

Klingon Language And Star Trek Into Darkness

leng Hov is the Klingon for Star Trek. That much is already established in Klingon language canon.

What does make wonder, however, is the Klingon translation for the forthcoming movie Star Trek Into Darkness.

The word for dark, be dark in Klingon is Hurgh - and, while translating the verb Hurgh as a noun, Hurgh darkness, is not canon - leng Hov Hurgh would seem like a good translation for Star Trek Into Darkness - "Dark Star Trek." Perhaps HurghchoH leng Hov even - Star Trek Darkens / Star Trek Becomes Dark.

One small problem with leng Hov Hurgh ... Hurgh, as a noun, is the Klingon for pickle. Star Trek Pickle just doesn't cut it.

My only thought is that, as the movie is about the Federation entering a time of evil and darkness, Star Trek Enters An Evil Time - poH mIgh 'el leng Hov - might be the best Klingon translation for the title.

Unless the show is about the characters of the USS Enterprise getting into a pickle ...

In any case, I have an interview about this forthcoming movie set for tomorrow evening, around 18:00, and I will probably consider using these terms during that interview. Which should be fun.