305 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
305 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
PROGRAM NOTES for "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'" (Klingon Language Analyzer)
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Structure
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0 Purpose & Product
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1 Single-word Entry
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2 Analyzing a File
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3 Searching for Klingon
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4 Affix Charts
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5 Viewing a text file
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6 Known problems
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7 Disclaimer
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8 The future of "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'"
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9 Source Code, Contact Information, and Interest Groups
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0 Purpose
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0.1 This program was written to facilitate the translation of
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the Klingon language known as tlhIngan Hol, the source of which
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is _The Klingon Dictionary_ by Marc Okrand. It is _strongly_
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recommended that you have Okrand's book (hereafter TKD) before
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attempting to understand tlhIngan. The orthography set down in
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TKD is used here; spelling is an issue. If you use a lower-case
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/i/, /d/, or /h/, it will not be understood.
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0.1.1 The program "k3.exe" may be freely distributed, as long as
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it is not altered in any way and this text file is included.
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0.2 This program was _not_ written to interpret tlhIngan
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phrases, poetry, sentences, etc. The analyzer takes a word at a
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time, breaks it down into whatever components may exist, and
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presents possible meanings. In other words, this analyzer does
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morphological, not syntactic, analyses.
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1 Single-word Entry
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1.1 Menu option 1 will allow you to key-in a tlhIngan word, and
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have the analyzer check it out. It is now also possible to type
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in more than one word at a time. (This makes cutting and pasting
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in Windows extremely easy.) The word is checked as noun first, and
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then a verb. When given a word, the analyzer always returns a
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string. There are four possible results, as shown below:
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N: pojwI': my analysis
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V: pojwI': thing/one which is/does analyze
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C: HolQeD: language | science
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X: noword: *** NOT FOUND ***
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The codes, respectively, are: (N)oun, (V)erb, (C)ompound noun,
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and (X) for unknown. In the example above, "pojwI'" is returned
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as both a noun and a verb because in the lexicon, "poj" is both
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the noun "analysis" and the verb "analyze," and "wI'" is both a
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noun and verb suffix.
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1.2 In addition to the four lines above, the analyzer might
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present you with a warning string: "Incorrect Suffix Ordering."
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Refer to TKD 3.3 & 4.2.10 for information on suffix ordering. If
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you ask the analyzer to evaluate a word with incorrectly ordered
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suffixes, it will still give you the results, with a warning
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message.
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1.3 Refer to TKD 3.2.1 for information on compound nouns. If
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the analyzer evaluates a word as a compound, the two nouns are
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presented, separated by a "|".
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2 Analyzing a File
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2.1 Menu option 2 will allow you to specify a text file of
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tlhIngan to analyze. The file must be ASCII, unformatted. Other
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than that, there are few restrictions. Characters that are not
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used in tlhIngan orthography (such as: $, @, #, %, *, &, /, etc.)
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are ignored by the analyzer. This function is set up to accept a
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file much like it would exist if taken from the mailing list, or
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in a text editor if you were to type it in.
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2.2 The file does not have to be in the same directory as the
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analyzer, but if it isn't you must specify the full path name.
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If the file does not exist in the indicated/default directory,
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you are returned to the main menu. Once you specify the text
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file to analyze, the screen displays the results of the search.
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When the search is completed, you are asked to specify a file
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name to append the results of the analysis to. The default
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choice, shown in brackets [], is the name of the source file that
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was just analyzed. You can specify another file; if the file you
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specify exists, it will be appended to; if the file you specify
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doesn't exist, it will be created. Or, to discard the results,
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you can type the word 'none' (no caps).
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2.3 Special Note: During the file analysis, the analyzer
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creates a temporary file called "temp.tkd." (In version 2.5/2.6,
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the temporary file was named "temp.kli"). If for any reason
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the process is halted, the program will not erase the file.
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Then, the next time you analyze a text file, the results will be
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appended onto the results of the previous search, which may prove
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confusing when comparing the search results to the original! You
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can safely delete the file "temp.tkd" from you directory.
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3 Search for tlhIngan
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3.1 Menu Option 3 will allow you to search for a tlhIngan noun
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or verb root, using English. This function prompts you for the
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search string, and then returns any noun or verb definition which
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contains that string. Capitalization matters. A search for
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"love," for example, will give the following results:
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N: bang: love, one who is loved.
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N: pogh: glove.
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This is useful if you are not sure of the spelling, or you want
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to find all possible matches. The search will not return
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affixes. Use menu option 4, Affix Charts.
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4 Affix Charts
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4.1 This section is a frill really, like chrome. You can view
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separate affix charts for noun suffixes, verb prefixes, and verb
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suffixes. They are alphabetical by the tlhIngan, and provide an
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English translation and the affix number. This is useful for
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quick reference, instead of constantly flipping through TKD!
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4.2 When viewing an affix chart, press any key to continue.
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(Duh...) There's no message on the screen, and I didn't want to
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be responsible for some poor sap sitting blankly in front of the
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screen, because there was no message!
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5 View a Text File
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5.1 This is a simple little utility. It lists the contents of
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an ASCII file on the screen 24 lines at a time, followed by the
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message "Press any key...." There is no other functionality
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here. I added this because I got tired of exiting the program to
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view the results of a file analysis. That's me, Mr. Instant
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Gratification.
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6 Known Problems
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6.1 This section lists some of the known limitations and
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problems with this analyzer. Some of them I may be working on
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currently. If you discover a problem that is not listed here,
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please let me know!
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6.1 Grammar, Suffix Types & Selectional Restrictions
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6.1.1 The analyzer will, right now, not tell you whether your
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sentence structure is correct. Alghough a complex endeavor, this
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is one of my future goals for the analyzer.
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6.1.2 There are appropriate and inappropriate ways of using
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suffixes. For example, the plural marker for a body part (Du')
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should not be used to refer to, for exmaple, a fleet of Klingon
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ships. Right now the analyzer will return all combinations of
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roots + suffixes, regardless of how appropriate any particular
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combination is. We are working on implementing these
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selectional restrictions.
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6.2 Pronouns + verb suffixes
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6.2.1 Section 6.3 of TKD describes the use of pronouns to
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convey the meaning "to be." When used in this construction,
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pronouns may combine with verb suffixes. As of version 3.0,
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this construction is not evaluated by the analyzer. We are
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working on it.
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6.3 Numbers + DIch (Ordinal Numbers)
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6.3.1 Section 5.2 of TKD describes the use of numbers in tlhIngan
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Hol. A number, such as 20 ("cha'maH"), can take the suffix "DIch"
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to make it an ordinal number, 20th ("cha'maHDIch"). As of version
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3.0, this will not be found. We are working on it.
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6.2 These are all the bugs I know about/can remember right now.
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If you discover a problem with the program, such as a particular
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construction is consistently not found, please contact me as
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directed below, or on the tlhIngan mailing list.
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7 Disclaimer
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7.1 This program was written, originally, for my own use. It
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works fine on my system (80386/40 DX, AMI). If anything goes
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wrong with the program, or if it causes any damage to your
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system, I am not responsible. Use at your own risk. Frankly, I
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can't imagine how this program could hurt anything, but it needs
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to be said.
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7.2 This program is freeware. You can use it, modify it,
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distribute it, even eat it for supper if you want. You must,
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though, keep this file intact, with my name on it. If you also
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received a copy of the source code, and have made any
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changes/additions, you must indicate in the source where you have
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made changes. That's what "All Rights Reserved" means, and why I
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include the copyright message. That's not too much to ask, since
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I worked so hard on it.
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7.3 Credits
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pojwI' tlhIngan Hol (Klingon Language Analyzer)
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created (1993) by d'Armond Speers
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copyright 1993. All rights reserved.
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7.4 Cover my butt
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7.4.1 TKD and tlhIngan Hol are copyrighted by Paramount and Simon
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and Schuster. I did not get their permission, or Marc Okrand's,
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to use the Klingon language tlhIngan Hol in my program. I do not
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know Marc Okrand, and he does not know me. If you use this
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program for your own profit, or take credit for my hard work, may
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the Devil's lawyer's themselves swarm upon you with the fury of a
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Klingon warrior whose mother you insulted.
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8 The future of "tlhIngan Hol pojwI'"
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8.1 Version 3.0
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8.1.1 As it stands today, version 3.0 was written by me, for me,
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and distributed under pressure from tlhInganpu' interested in
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translating and learning tlhIngan Hol. Since the distribution of
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the earlier 2.5, I have been swarmed with comments and suggestions,
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most of them positive, and all of them welcome. Many of the
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suggestions I received have found their way into the code, and I
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thank those whose interest helped me improve the product.
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8.2 Where are we going?
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8.2.1 Currently, there are three others around the world who have
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joined me in my endeavor. Although I am hesitant to mention names,
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I'll describe their backgrounds and current goals for the project.
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The first is a graduate student of Artificial Intelligence, with
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a concentration on Language Parsing and a minor in Linguistics. He
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is developing a more eloquent interface which, eventually, will be
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compiled as a native Windows application. Early versions will run
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in a DOS window in Windows, as I understand it, flawlessly. The
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second collaborator is a graduate student of Computational Linguistics,
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who hails from Germany. She is working on the remaining problems
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listed in section 6 of this document. Finally, the most recent
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addition to the team is a professor of computer science, who intends
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to take the project to the next logical step, true interpretation
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at the sentence level. Oh, I guess I should mention _my_ background!
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I am a graduate student of Theoretical Linguistics, with a focus
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on Generative Syntax. Programming is a diversion for me. Likely,
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the four of us will be working closely together on the eventual
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Klingon Interpreter (or whatever we call it), since our diverse
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backgrounds and specialties will complement each other's
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(backgrounds) nicely. Stay tuned!
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9 Source Code and Contact Information
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9.1 If you want a copy of the source code, or if you want to
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contact me regarding comments/suggestions, please feel free. I
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currently intend to be available at the Internet address (see
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below) at Georgetown University until May/June 1997. The snail
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mail address should also be good. If those fail, try the
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tlhIngan Hol mailing list, or the Klingon Language Institute, of
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which I am a member.
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d'Armond Speers
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6901 Randolph Macon Drive
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Alexandria, VA 22307
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(703) 768-6811 (home)
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speers@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
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9.2 The tlhIngan Hol mailing list
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9.2.2 This mailing list is an Internet discussion group, devoted
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to the discussion of tlhIngan Hol. If you are interested in
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learning/using the language, that is the place to do it! You can
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subscribe to the list by sending mail to:
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tlhIngan-Hol-request@klingon.East.Sun.COM
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with the subject line "subscribe" (without the quotes).
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9.3 The Klingon Language Institute (KLI)
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9.3.3 The KLI is devoted to the exploration of Klingon language and
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culture. Annual membership, which includes a subscription to the
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quarterly journal HolQeD, is available: $15, US; $18, Canada; $21,
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overseas. Checks should be made payable, in US funds, to: Dr. Lawrence
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M. Schoen, KLI.
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The Klingon Language Institute, KLI
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P.O. Box 634
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Flourtown, PA 19031-0634 USA
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Qapla'! |