Klingon - pojwI' for Windows

tlhIngan Hol pojwI' is a word processing environment for the Klingonist. It provides a Klingon lexicon and thesaurus; a full-featured Klingon/English search utility (useful as a rhyming dictionary); Klingon morphology analysis (now much improved!); tlhIngan Hol spell checking; support for pIqaD ; language lessons, complete with tests; an integrated canon database utility; a Klingon chatterbot, for when there are no other Klingons around to talk to; and much more!

pojwI' for Windows 2.1 is the complete language tool for all Klingonists, both newcomers and po'wI' alike.

• Updated March 4, 2004

• Program Features
• Download
• Registration
• Copyrights
• Previous Versions

Program Features

Klingon Spell Check

This feature is new to 2.1. The spell-check will pass words through the translation system, and report any words that are either not parsed, or parsed with errors. When words are parsed with errors, pojwI' will tell you what the error was, and in most cases will offer suggestions for correcting the errors. Click here for a screenshot. The spell checker also supports a user dictionary.

 

Support for pIqaD

This feature is new to 2.1. pojwI' now supports the Klingon font which is available from the KLI , KLIPIqaDmey . If you have this font installed on your system, pojwI' will automatically convert the selected Klingon text to pIqaD . You can toggle between pIqaD and normal with a toolbar button. Click here for a screenshot.

 

NOTE: pojwI' does not come with the KLI's font KLIPIqaDmey. You must purchase this separately from the KLI.

 

Klingon Translation

This feature is much improved in 2.0.  The old pojwI ' did an okay job on simple translations, but complex words really were unreadable. In this version, I have tried very hard to make all the translations readable. For example, look at the difference in how the program translates the Klingon word bIHup'eghnISbe'qa'moHlaHbejtaHneS'a' :

 

pojwI' 1.0:     you (yes/no)? honorific on-going certainly can cause todo again not need to oneself punish

 

pojwI' 2.x    can you certainly cause yourself to not need to punish (on-going) again, your honor?

 

I'm not recommending that you speak Klingon using words this complex as a rule, but if you do encounter complex words, the translations will be much more readable.

 

Rich Editor

All previous versions of pojwI' were simple text editors with the translation utilities added on.  This version is a fully-functional word processor, supporting Rich Text Format (RTF).  This lets you work with text that is bold , italics , strikeout , underlined , (or all four!) , as well as changing the font and other text formatting.  It has full support for RTF documents, as well as simple text files.   The program now includes a formatting toolbar, which includes a font selection combo with an MRU font list, just like the advanced word processors.  A nice step in the evolution of the program!

 

Chatterbot

Designed to be a Klingon conversational partner when there are no other Klingons to talk to, pojwI' includes a Chatterbot, whose name is Holqoq.   The Chatterbot is not exactly AI, but he's much more advanced than Eliza (a psychotherapist style bot), and the program includes a fully-functional rule editor, so you can define your own conversations.  I will occasionally make updated conversational scripts available here, so check back often!  (If you develop your own scripts, why not send them in, and they might get added to the official release!)

 

Searching the Lexicon

The search utility in 2.x is much more advanced than in previous versions.  Before, you could search for Klingon words by searching for a substring of the word's translation.   In 2.x, you can search against any part of a lexical item's entry, including the Klingon word, the English translation, and the annotation.  You can search for a specific part of speech, or against all word types.  You can search for words that contain a substring, start with the string, end with the string, or that match exactly.   Or you can search for the wildcard, matching all words of the selected part of speech.  This utility can come in handy as a rhyming dictionary, which many Klingonists have been asking me to do for years!

 

Canon Database

pojwI' for Windows 2.x contains an integrated canon database utility.   Entries in the database include the source, the Klingon, the English translation, and a spot for your personal notes.   The canon database is integrated with the rest of the program, which means you can reference canon usage from the Search utility and from the Translation dialog with ease.

 

Unfortunately I cannot distribute a canon database with the program, since this would arguably be a violation of Viacom's copyrights on published materials.  It is not the intent of this program to compete with Viacom or Paramount in any way.  (See my comments on copyrights below.)  But the tools are now there for you to develop your own canon database, and have it handily available when you need it!

 

Klingon Language Lessons

This version includes a utility for learning about the Klingon language.  I am most excited about this feature!  The lessons present a straightforward discussion of a single area of grammar, with examples.  You are given a short list of vocabulary items to memorize, and then you can take a test.  In order to progress in the lessons, you must score a 75% or higher on each test.  The lessons are designed around the story of a Bird of Prey, the QIH , and her captain, Captain Torg, and his crew.  As the lessons progress, the language used to tell the story becomes correspondingly complex.  At any point in the lessons, you will know enough Klingon grammar and vocabulary to read the story.

 

Currently there are 15 lessons in the series.  I will be making more lessons available, so check back here for updates.  I will also include a utility which will import the new lessons into your lesson file, without overwriting your current scores (otherwise, you'd have to start back at the beginning!).

Download

NOTE: This program requires Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME. If you are using Windows 95, or Windows NT 3.51, you must also be using Internet Explorer 4.x. The reason for this is that the program makes use of Microsoft CryptoAPI, which is now incorporated into Windows 98/NT 4.0/2000/ME, but is only available on Windows 95/NT 3.51 with IE 4.x.

• Download pojwI' for Windows 2.1.1 now (1.26 MB)
• (Version 2.1.1.2195, Updated March 4, 2004)

New in 2.1.1.2195

Finally, the lexicon has been updated to correct some long-standing errors, and to include all known vocabulary as of February 2004.  This includes notes from KGT, words from HolQeD, etc. 

Mainly this release has fixed several problems in the translation system, most notably not translating -be' and -Qo' correctly.  Also, the previous "Internet Update" utility has been replaced, giving the program greater control over how individual files are updated.  (If the only thing that's changed is the lexicon, you don't have to download the whole program.)  Also, the old updater would only take you to this website, where you'd have to hunt around for what's new.   The new updater not only identifies which files are updated, but also downloads them directly and installs them for you.  Much easier!

The down-side, however (you knew it was coming) is that the file formats for the lexicon, lessons and robot rules files have changed, making older versions incompatible with this release, and newer versions incompatible with older releases.  I looked long and hard for a way around this, but alas I could not prevent the change.  If you would like to keep the older version of the program but still get the updated lexicon, you can download an older file format here.  However, this file won't be updated, so as new vocabulary becomes known and added to the lexicon, this file will become increasing out-of-date.

• Data Files (lexicon, lessons, rules) for pojwI' < 2.1.1.2195 (updated March 3, 2004)

Just unzip this file and put its contents into your pojwI' directory.   (Make backup copies of your existing files if you have made your own changes that you want to save.)

Registration

Version 2.x of pojwI' for Windows marks the first shareware release of the program.  Why am I doing this?  Well, I have been making versions of this program available for free since 1992, and quite simply, I have put too much time, energy and money into this project to continue to do it for nothing.  The unregistered version of the program is non-expiring, which means you can use the program for as long as you like for free, without having any annoying nag-screens or registration reminders.   I hate nagware!  There are a few useful features of the program that are disabled in the unregistered version. 

You can register pojwI' for Windows 2.1 through RegNet - The Registration Network by using any of the following methods:

On the World Wide Web
By Phone	1-800-WWW2REG
By Fax	1-661-288-1867

[If you would like to order by fax, I recommend you download the program, and print out the fax order form contained in the Help file.]

The RegNet product ID for pojwI' for Windows 2.1 is 4308. 

Registration is $19.95 (US) plus the RegNet handling fee ($5.00).  With registration, you will receive from RegNet a key code to unlock the few restricted features of the program.  You will also be entitled to free upgrades to the program, and discounts on any related products that are developed.

Copyrights

For a long time, I have resisted charging money for this software, not only out of a sense of community and generosity (which are important for me), but also out of fear of Viacom. After all, the Klingon language was developed by them, and they sell products (well, their licensed agents do) that could be seen to compete with this program. That would be A Bad Thing. Here's my current perspective on these issues. The lexicon used in this program is a compilation from many, many sources, not all of which are Viacom's. (I include all canon sources verifiably from Marc Okrand, including articles published in HolQeD, the journal of the Klingon Language Institute.) This compilation is itself unique. But it's much more than that: it's the translation code, the chatterbot, the lessons, the canon database utilities. I and I alone have developed these, and it does not compete in any way with any of Viacom's property. After all, they encouraged us to go and learn this language by publishing the dictionary etc. Now that Klingon is a language that people are speaking, the question becomes, can a language by copyrighted?

Still, it's a concern. The lexicon, in fact all the data files, used within this program are encrypted on the disk, so that they may only be used by this program. It wouldn't be possible, without a great deal of trouble, to take the lexicon and use it for another purpose. I'm not saying it's not possible, but it's hard enough that it'd probably be easier to go create your own lexicon from scratch, from all known sources, than to crack the lexicon file in pojwI'. And, to really learn and understand Klingon, it's still necessary to purchase TKD, and to really be skilled, you also need TKW, KGT, PK, CK and all the other publications. This program is not intended to replace these required sources (or to compete with them), but to be a supplemental tool for the Klingonist. Having tools like this out there will only serve to increase interest in and use of the language, which can only be A Good Thing, for those of us who speak this language, but also for Viacom and its subsidiaries who market it.

Previous Versions

There are a variety of previous versions of the program, and a couple of ports. I am making these programs available, but they are no longer supported, and whatever shortcomings exist in them currently, will exist in them forever. Of primary concern is the lexicon, which for each of these is quite out of date now.

• pojwI' for Windows version 1.70 beta
• pojwI' for DOS version 3.1 beta
• pojwI' for DOS version 4.0 beta
• pojwI' for UNIX version 2.6