PROGRAM NOTES for "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'" (Klingon Language Analyzer)

Structure

0 Purpose & Product
1 Single-word Entry
2 Analyzing a File
3 Searching for Klingon
4 Affix Charts
5 Viewing a text file
6 Known problems
7 Disclaimer
8 The future of "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'"
9 Source Code, Contact Information, and Interest Groups

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0 Purpose

0.1  This program was written to facilitate the translation of
the Klingon language known as tlhIngan Hol, the source of which
is _The Klingon Dictionary_ by Marc Okrand.  It is _strongly_
recommended that you have Okrand's book (hereafter TKD) before
attempting to understand tlhIngan. The orthography set down in
TKD is used here; spelling is an issue.  If you use a lower-case
/i/, /d/, or /h/, it will not be understood.

0.1.1 The program "k3.exe" may be freely distributed, as long as
it is not altered in any way and this text file is included.

0.2  This program was _not_ written to interpret tlhIngan
phrases, poetry, sentences, etc.  The analyzer takes a word at a
time, breaks it down into whatever components may exist, and
presents possible meanings.  In other words, this analyzer does
morphological, not syntactic, analyses.

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1 Single-word Entry

1.1 Menu option 1 will allow you to key-in a tlhIngan word, and
have the analyzer check it out. It is now also possible to type
in more than one word at a time.  (This makes cutting and pasting
in Windows extremely easy.)  The word is checked as noun first, and
then a verb.  When given a word, the analyzer always returns a
string.  There are four possible results, as shown below:

N: pojwI': my analysis
V: pojwI': thing/one which is/does analyze
C: HolQeD: language | science
X: noword: *** NOT FOUND ***

The codes, respectively, are: (N)oun, (V)erb, (C)ompound noun,
and (X) for unknown.  In the example above, "pojwI'" is returned
as both a noun and a verb because in the lexicon, "poj" is both
the noun "analysis" and the verb "analyze," and "wI'" is both a
noun and verb suffix.

1.2  In addition to the four lines above, the analyzer might
present you with a warning string: "Incorrect Suffix Ordering."
Refer to TKD 3.3 & 4.2.10 for information on suffix ordering.  If
you ask the analyzer to evaluate a word with incorrectly ordered
suffixes, it will still give you the results, with a warning
message.

1.3  Refer to TKD 3.2.1 for information on compound nouns.  If
the analyzer evaluates a word as a compound, the two nouns are
presented, separated by a "|".

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2 Analyzing a File

2.1 Menu option 2 will allow you to specify a text file of
tlhIngan to analyze.  The file must be ASCII, unformatted.  Other
than that, there are few restrictions.  Characters that are not
used in tlhIngan orthography (such as: $, @, #, %, *, &, /, etc.)
are ignored by the analyzer.  This function is set up to accept a
file much like it would exist if taken from the mailing list, or
in a text editor if you were to type it in.

2.2  The file does not have to be in the same directory as the
analyzer, but if it isn't you must specify the full path name.
If the file does not exist in the indicated/default directory,
you are returned to the main menu.  Once you specify the text
file to analyze, the screen displays the results of the search.
When the search is completed, you are asked to specify a file
name to append the results of the analysis to.  The default
choice, shown in brackets [], is the name of the source file that
was just analyzed.  You can specify another file; if the file you
specify exists, it will be appended to; if the file you specify
doesn't exist, it will be created.   Or, to discard the results,
you can type the word 'none' (no caps).

2.3  Special Note:  During the file analysis, the analyzer
creates a temporary file called "temp.tkd."  (In version 2.5/2.6,
the temporary file was named "temp.kli").  If for any reason
the process is halted, the program will not erase the file.
Then, the next time you analyze a text file, the results will be
appended onto the results of the previous search, which may prove
confusing when comparing the search results to the original!  You
can safely delete the file "temp.tkd" from you directory.

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3  Search for tlhIngan

3.1  Menu Option 3 will allow you to search for a tlhIngan noun
or verb root, using English.  This function prompts you for the
search string, and then returns any noun or verb definition which
contains that string.  Capitalization matters.  A search for
"love," for example, will give the following results:

N: bang: love, one who is loved.
N: pogh: glove.

This is useful if you are not sure of the spelling, or you want
to find all possible matches.  The search will not return
affixes.  Use menu option 4, Affix Charts.

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4 Affix Charts

4.1  This section is a frill really, like chrome.  You can view
separate affix charts for noun suffixes, verb prefixes, and verb
suffixes.  They are alphabetical by the tlhIngan, and provide an
English translation and the affix number.  This is useful for
quick reference, instead of constantly flipping through TKD!

4.2  When viewing an affix chart, press any key to continue.
(Duh...)  There's no message on the screen, and I didn't want to
be responsible for some poor sap sitting blankly in front of the
screen, because there was no message!

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5 View a Text File

5.1  This is a simple little utility.  It lists the contents of
an ASCII file on the screen 24 lines at a time, followed by the
message "Press any key...."  There is no other functionality
here.  I added this because I got tired of exiting the program to
view the results of a file analysis.  That's me, Mr. Instant
Gratification.

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6  Known Problems

6.1  This section lists some of the known limitations and
problems with this analyzer.  Some of them I may be working on
currently.  If you discover a problem that is not listed here,
please let me know!

6.1  Grammar, Suffix Types & Selectional Restrictions

6.1.1  The analyzer will, right now, not tell you whether your
sentence structure is correct.  Alghough a complex endeavor, this
is one of my future goals for the analyzer.

6.1.2  There are appropriate and inappropriate ways of using
suffixes.  For example, the plural marker for a body part (Du')
should not be used to refer to, for exmaple,  a fleet of Klingon
ships.  Right now the analyzer will return all combinations of
roots + suffixes, regardless of how appropriate any particular
combination is.  We are working on implementing these 
selectional restrictions.

6.2  Pronouns + verb suffixes

6.2.1  Section 6.3 of TKD describes the use of pronouns to 
convey the meaning "to be."  When used in this construction, 
pronouns may combine with verb suffixes.  As of version 3.0,
this construction is not evaluated by the analyzer.  We are
working on it.

6.3  Numbers + DIch (Ordinal Numbers)

6.3.1  Section 5.2 of TKD describes the use of numbers in tlhIngan
Hol.  A number, such as 20 ("cha'maH"), can take the suffix "DIch"
to make it an ordinal number, 20th ("cha'maHDIch").  As of version
3.0, this will not be found.  We are working on it.

6.2  These are all the bugs I know about/can remember right now.
If you discover a problem with the program, such as a particular
construction is consistently not found, please contact me as
directed below, or on the tlhIngan mailing list.

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7  Disclaimer

7.1 This program was written, originally, for my own use.  It
works fine on my system (80386/40 DX, AMI).  If anything goes
wrong with the program, or if it causes any damage to your
system, I am not responsible.  Use at your own risk.  Frankly, I
can't imagine how this program could hurt anything, but it needs
to be said.

7.2 This program is freeware.  You can use it, modify it,
distribute it, even eat it for supper if you want.  You must,
though, keep this file intact, with my name on it.  If you also
received a copy of the source code, and have made any
changes/additions, you must indicate in the source where you have
made changes.  That's what "All Rights Reserved" means, and why I
include the copyright message.  That's not too much to ask, since
I worked so hard on it.

7.3 Credits

pojwI' tlhIngan Hol (Klingon Language Analyzer)
created (1993) by d'Armond Speers
copyright 1993.  All rights reserved.

7.4 Cover my butt

7.4.1 TKD and tlhIngan Hol are copyrighted by Paramount and Simon
and Schuster.  I did not get their permission, or Marc Okrand's,
to use the Klingon language tlhIngan Hol in my program.  I do not
know Marc Okrand, and he does not know me.  If you use this
program for your own profit, or take credit for my hard work, may
the Devil's lawyer's themselves swarm upon you with the fury of a
Klingon warrior whose mother you insulted.

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8  The future of "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'"

8.1  Version 3.0

8.1.1  As it stands today, version 3.0 was written by me, for me,
and distributed under pressure from tlhInganpu' interested in
translating and learning tlhIngan Hol.  Since the distribution of
the earlier 2.5, I have been swarmed with comments and suggestions,
most of them positive, and all of them welcome.  Many of the
suggestions I received have found their way into the code, and I
thank those whose interest helped me improve the product.

8.2  Where are we going?

8.2.1  Currently, there are three others around the world who have 
joined me in my endeavor.  Although I am hesitant to mention names, 
I'll describe their backgrounds and current goals for the project.
The first is a graduate student of Artificial Intelligence, with 
a concentration on Language Parsing and a minor in Linguistics.  He
is developing a more eloquent interface which, eventually, will be
compiled as a native Windows application.  Early versions will run
in a DOS window in Windows, as I understand it, flawlessly.  The 
second collaborator is a graduate student of Computational Linguistics,
who hails from Germany.  She is working on the remaining problems
listed in section 6 of this document.  Finally, the most recent
addition to the team is a professor of computer science, who intends
to take the project to the next logical step, true interpretation
at the sentence level.  Oh, I guess I should mention _my_ background!
I am a graduate student of Theoretical Linguistics, with a focus
on Generative Syntax.  Programming is a diversion for me.  Likely,
the four of us will be working closely together on the eventual
Klingon Interpreter (or whatever we call it), since our diverse
backgrounds and specialties will complement each other's 
(backgrounds) nicely.  Stay tuned!

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9  Source Code and Contact Information

9.1  If you want a copy of the source code, or if you want to
contact me regarding comments/suggestions, please feel free.  I
currently intend to be available at the Internet address (see
below) at Georgetown University until May/June 1997.  The snail
mail address should also be good.  If those fail, try the
tlhIngan Hol mailing list, or the Klingon Language Institute, of
which I am a member.

d'Armond Speers
6901 Randolph Macon Drive
Alexandria, VA  22307
(703) 768-6811 (home)

speers@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu

9.2  The tlhIngan Hol mailing list

9.2.2  This mailing list is an Internet discussion group, devoted
to the discussion of tlhIngan Hol.  If you are interested in 
learning/using the language, that is the place to do it!   You can
subscribe to the list by sending mail to:

tlhIngan-Hol-request@klingon.East.Sun.COM

with the subject line "subscribe" (without the quotes).

9.3  The Klingon Language Institute (KLI)

9.3.3  The KLI is devoted to the exploration of Klingon language and
culture.  Annual membership, which includes a subscription to the 
quarterly journal HolQeD, is available: $15, US; $18, Canada; $21, 
overseas.  Checks should be made payable, in US funds, to: Dr. Lawrence
M. Schoen, KLI.

The Klingon Language Institute, KLI
P.O. Box 634
Flourtown, PA  19031-0634 USA

Qapla'!