Klingon Language Institute, Inc | |
tlhIngan Hol yejHaD | |
![]() Logo of the Klingon Language Institute | |
Abbreviation | KLI |
---|---|
Formation | 1992 |
Founder | Lawrence M. Schoen |
Type | Non-profit, volunteer-based |
Purpose | Klingon language preservation, research, educational outreach and promotion |
Headquarters | Northern Kentucky |
Board President | Chris Lipscombe |
Board Vice-President | Jeremy Cowan |
Chris Lipscombe, Jeremy Cowan, Alan Anderson | |
Website | https://kli.org |
The Klingon Language Institute (KLI) is an independent organization originally founded in Flourtown, Pennsylvania and now located in Kentucky. Its goal is to promote the Klingon language, a constructed language from the Star Trek fictional universe, as well as Klingon culture.
The KLI has members from all over the world. [1] For 13 years, it published a quarterly journal HolQeD (Klingon for "linguistics"), before discontinuing the paper mailings and changing to an electronic version which quickly stopped entirely. It also published the fiction and poetry magazine jatmey for three volumes. It now publishes a number of translated works, including The Wizard of Oz , the Tao Te Ching , the Epic of Gilgamesh , Much Ado About Nothing and others. Each year, the KLI hosts a five-day conference called the qepʼaʼ (Klingon for "great meeting"), which is open to both members and anyone interested in the language. [2] The KLI is running several projects, including the administration of the Duolingo Klingon language course, translation into Klingon of a number of award-winning science fiction short stories, books of the Bible, and works by Shakespeare. The motto of the institute is "qoʼmey poSmoH Hol", which means "Language opens worlds".
The KLI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation and exists to facilitate the scholarly exploration of the Klingon language and culture. It has the permission of CBS Studios to use trademarks such as " Star Trek " and "Klingon".[ citation needed ]
The KLI was founded in 1992 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania by psychology researcher and linguistics writer Lawrence M. Schoen, with the intention of launching and operating a more in-depth organization from which he and others could work in "an ongoing career of lectures at conventions and museums across three continents, and [aid in] the development of a loose affiliation of language scholars and amateurs throughout fifty countries" which were dedicated to "the world's most popular fictional language". [3]
Each year, in midsummer, an annual meeting called the qep'a' takes place. It is open to anyone who is interested in the Klingon language, and usually takes place in the United States. The eighth meeting, the first and only ever outside the US, was held in Brussels, Belgium in 2001 and was organized by Lieven Litaer. At these meetings, attendees discuss and use the Klingon language in both formal lessons and panels, as well as informal activities and events. It is held at a more professional level compared to a standard science fiction convention. At the qep'a' conference held in 2003, the development of a documentary movie about the KLI, Earthlings: Ugly Bags of Mostly Water, was unveiled. This movie was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in France, and provided with a limited theatrical release.[ citation needed ]
In 2022, the Klingon Language Institute relocated its primary operating headquarters from Pennsylvania to Kentucky. During the KLI qep'a' wejmaHDIch conference held in 2023, Dr. Schoen announced his retirement from the KLI, and was awarded a plaque for his years of service to the organization.
The KLI board of directors was formed in 1992 and is currently made up of Chris Lipscombe, board president and IT coordinator, Jeremy Cowan, vice president and qep'a' coordinator, and Alan Anderson, treasurer and primary grammarian.
Among the programs the KLI administers is the Klingon Language Certification Program, which is designed to recognize KLI members for their achievements in learning Klingon. The program defines four levels of certification, from Beginner ("taghwI'") to Grammarian ("pab pIn"). Certification is awarded based upon performance on written tests, administered by representatives of the KLI. Testing is available for free to all active KLI members. Currently, only the first three levels have a test, and no one has been awarded the pab pIn level as of 2023. Beginners' Grammarians from the email list are not considered pab pIn.
During the 1990s and 2000s, at intervals ranging from three to eighteen months, a Beginners Grammarian was elected from among the most experienced intermediate level speakers on the tlhIngan Hol mailing list operated by the KLI. Their duty was to help teach the beginners of the Klingon language who used the email discussion list. The process was designed to help new students of the language while also helping improve the knowledge and skills of the Beginners' Grammarian. When their duty was over, they kept their title of Beginners' Grammarian. The KLI has over twenty former Beginners' Grammarians.
Some Klingonists have gained relative notoriety for various accomplishments. The KLI has awarded the title "Friend of Maltz" to Klingonists who has furthered the language in various significant ways. This award has only been given out to twelve people since the formation of the KLI. Its recipients are Alan Anderson, William Martin, Mark Shoulson, Rich Yampell, D'Armond Speers, Nick Nicholas, Robyn Stewart, Eric Andeen, Jeremy Cowan, Chris Lipscombe and Lieven L. Litaer.[ citation needed ]
Over the years the KLI has assisted in the translation of hundreds of licensed Star Trek products. Having some of the most experienced Klingon speakers, the KLI is often contacted for or involved in translations before they are published. This work may include reviews or even complete translation work. Collaborative publications, releases and products include the 2011 Star Trek Klingon Collector's Edition of the board game Monopoly, comics, manuals, the miniature Star Trek: How to Speak Klingon (2013) phrase book (including audio samples provided by Schoen), and the rock song Star Trek Online: Steel and Flame (2021). Additionally, the Klingon Language Institute provided assistance in reviewing paq'batlh (2011), the companion book for the Klingon opera ʼuʼ
.
The institute is in close contact with Marc Okrand, the creator of the Klingon language, who has visited each qepʼaʼ since the third one. At those meetings, he receives a wishlist of requests for unaccounted terms within Klingon vocabulary, which he frequently addresses and answers. The first significant batch of these new words were first published in HolQeD, and they were also made available for free on the KLI's website, although these compilations are now published directly to the website following inquiries and events.
HolQeD
column by Rich Yampell, credited as "Captain Krankor" or HoD Qanqor.The Klingon language is the constructed language spoken by a fictional alien race called the Klingons, in the Star Trek universe.
Marc Okrand is an American linguist. His professional work is in Native American languages, and he is well known as the creator of the Klingon language in the Star Trek science fiction franchise.
In the fictional Star Trek universe the Klingon High Council is the supreme ruling body of the Klingon Empire. The council meets at the Great Hall of the First City of the Klingon Empire on the planet Qo'noS.
The Klingon Dictionary (TKD) is a book by Marc Okrand describing the Klingon language. First published in 1985 and then again with an addendum in 1992, it includes pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. It has sold more than three hundred thousand copies and has been translated into five languages.
Star Trek: The Role Playing Game is a role-playing game set in the fictional Star Trek universe published by FASA Corporation from 1982 to 1989.
The Klingon Hamlet, or The Tragedy of Khamlet, Son of the Emperor of Qo'noS, is a translation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet into Klingon, a constructed language first appearing in the science fiction franchise Star Trek.
The Final Reflection is a 1984 science fiction novel by American writer John M. Ford, part of the Star Trek franchise. The novel provided the foundation for the FASA Star Trek role-playing game sourcebooks dealing with the Klingon elements of the game. Although not considered canon because of later developments in the Star Trek movies and TV series, the presentation of Klingon culture in this novel and Ford's 1987 follow-on, How Much for Just the Planet? is highly popular in fanon alternate depictions of Klingon society and culture. In particular, the fictional Klingon language klingonaase is introduced here, in advance of the creation of the canon version of the Klingon language, tlhIngan Hol.
The Klingon scripts are fictional alphabetic scripts used in the Star Trek movies and television shows to write the Klingon language.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a science fiction anthology series of licensed, fan-written, short stories based on, and inspired by, Star Trek and its spin-off television series and films. The series was published by Simon & Schuster, from 1996 to 2016, edited by Dean Wesley Smith, with assistance from John J. Ordover and Paula M. Block. The collected stories were submitted by amateur writers.
Lawrence M. Schoen is an American author, publisher, psychologist, hypnotist, and expert in the Klingon language.
The Klingons are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise Star Trek.
Treklanta is an annual Star Trek convention based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States that places special emphasis on fan-based events, activities, programming and productions. It hosts the annual Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant and Bjo Awards Ceremony.
A Klingon Christmas Carol is the first play to be performed entirely in Klingon, a constructed language first appearing in the Star Trek media franchise. The play is based on the Charles Dickens 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. A Klingon Christmas Carol is the Charles Dickens classic tale of ghosts and redemption, adapted to reflect the Klingon values of courage and honor, and then translated into Klingon, performed with English supertitles.
The grammar of the Klingon language was created by Marc Okrand for the Star Trek franchise. He first described it in his book The Klingon Dictionary. It is a nominative–accusative, primarily suffixing agglutinative language, and has an object–verb–subject word order. The Klingon language has a number of unusual grammatical features, as it was designed to sound and seem alien, but it has an extremely regular morphology.
The word qepHom
is generally used for any kind of gathering where people may talk about or in Klingon, a fictional language created for Star Trek. In Germany, the word has become commonly used for a specific annual meeting in Saarbrücken, because it is the largest meeting of its kind.
Avant Bard Theatre is a small, professional, nonprofit theater based in Arlington, VA. The company was founded in 1990 under the name Washington Shakespeare Company; its name was changed to WSC Avant Bard in August 2011; its name was subsequently changed to Avant Bard Theatre in October 2017. Avant Bard focuses on producing "bold and experimental productions of classic and contemporary works".
The Klingon Way: A Warrior's Guide is a 1996 book by the linguist Marc Okrand that was published by Pocket Books. The Klingon Way is a collection of proverbs and sayings in the constructed language of Klingon, ascribed to the Klingon race and Klingon culture in the fictional Star Trek universe. Okrand first began constructing the Klingon language in the 1980s when he was hired to produce Klingon dialogue for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, going on to publish The Klingon Dictionary. The Klingon Way expanded the Klingon lexicon, and was followed by Klingon for the Galactic Traveler.
Klingon for the Galactic Traveler (KGT) is the third book written by Marc Okrand about the Klingon language. It was published in 1997.
The Star Trek franchise, begun in 1966, has frequently included stories inspired by and alluding to the works of William Shakespeare. The science fiction franchise includes television series, films, comic books, novels and games, and has material both Star Trek canon and non-canon. Many of the actors involved have been part of Shakespearean productions, including Patrick Stewart and Christopher Plummer.