[Tlhingan-hol] 2 letter language code for Klingon?

[ghunchu'wI' 'utlh]

On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 3:44 PM, David Trimboli <david at trimboli.name> wrote:
> Leaving aside the question of whether TalkNow!'s use of KLI pIqaD makes it
> official, "tlh" is not a Romanized equivalent of a Klingon letter. It is a
> trigraph in a transcription system that was devised completely independently
> of any knowledge of any Klingon writing system. "tlh" is a representation of
> the *sound* of "tlh," not a rewriting of a Klingon symbol that represents
> the sound of "tlh."

You are taking the word "equivalent" in a way that does not match my
intent, and thus disagreeing with something I did not say.

In the typewriter-compatible transcription system, "tlh" represents a
sound. In the phonetic transcription embodied in the Unicode PUA, 
(the pIqaD squiggly-Y-looking thing sometimes found on the X key in
pre-Unicode Klingon fonts) represents the same sound. Each is the
equivalent of the other. The trigraph isn't a translation of the
Klingon symbol any more than the IPA [tɬ͡]  is a translation of
either; they all represent a sound. In Klingon, that sound is
represented by a single letter, and in The Klingon Dictionary the
{tlh} symbol is considered explicitly to be its own letter.

If someone wants to point out that students of typography call the
"tlh" letter a trigraph because it is composed by abutting three
otherwise separate symbols, fine. But Mr. Everson's comment was more
than a little patronizing.

>> For better or worse, I think the use of that symbol in EuroTalk's "Talk Now!
>> Learn Klingon" program pushes it from semi-offical to truly official.
>
> Do we have any way of knowing that Okrand vetted the Klingon writing? I'll
> bet he didn't have anything to do with it.

Yes, we have a way of knowing. Do you want an official answer? We can ask him.

> And in the fiction of Klingon as
> a natural language, what part does TalkNow! play?

The part it plays is explicit:

> Language learning specialists EuroTalk have brought out this beginners guide
> to spoken Klingon with the help of Marc Okrand, creator of the Klingon
> language.
>
> The Talk Now! CD-ROM covers everyday words Klingons would use if they lived
> on Earth today, including some brand new ones.

I pay special attention to the phrase "words Klingons would use".

> Is it Klingon Monopoly written *by* Klingons or *for* Klingons? Or for
> Terran enthusiasts of Klingons? Doesn't this make a difference?

I can't see why it would make any difference. The Klingon Dictionary
wasn't written by Klingons for Klingons either, even in the fantasy of
Star Trek being real.

-- ghunchu'wI'