[nfbcs] Klingon Braille code

[Greg Kearney]

PRESS RELEASE


Klingon Braille code introduced

Perth, Australia
April 1, 2019

The Commonwealth Braille and Talking Book Cooperative is pleased to offer today (01 April 2019) our latest in the development of Braille codes for minor languages. The Klingon Braille will permit the writing of the Klingon language in Braille and will aid in the education of those who are blind in learning written Klingon.

To facilitate ease in learning the Klingon braille code, the code has, as much as possible, tried to match its symbols to Braille patterns  with which a new learner of the code is already familiar. Given the combative nature of Klingon culture it would seem to be a safe assumption that blindness, acquired in battle, is a common condition in the population.

The aim has been to develop a code that follows a logical pattern, and is easy to both learn and reproduce.

The complete description of the Klingon Braille code can be found online at https://www.cbtbc.org/braille/klingon/

History of the Klingon language

The Klingon language, sometimes called Klingonese, is the constructed language spoken by the fictional Klingons in the Star Trek universe.

Described in the 1985 book The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand and deliberately designed to sound "alien", it has a number of typologically uncommon features. The language's basic sound, along with a few words, was first devised by actor James Doohan ("Scotty") and producer Jon Povill for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. That film marked the first time the language had been heard on screen. Klingon was developed by Okrand into a full fledged language.

The Klingon language has no notion of upper and lower case letters, nor does it employ any form of punctuation. Sentences are written on centre justified lines one under the other.

For more information visit The Klingon Language Institute (https://www.kli.org)

History of Braille

Braille is named after its creator, Frenchman Louis Braille, who became blind as a result of a childhood accident. At the age of 15, Braille developed his code for the French alphabet in 1824 as an improvement on night writing used by the French army of the time. He published his system, which subsequently included musical notation, in 1829.

Today Braille is an international standard for tactile reading. Braille codes have been developed for most languages having a written form. Braille literacy and education is important for developing reading skills among blind and visually impaired children. Braille literacy directly correlates with higher employment rates in this population.

About the Commonwealth Braille and Talking Book Cooperative

The Commonwealth Braille & Talking Book Cooperative (CBTBC) is intended to promote the collaboration and sharing of resources among the Braille and talking book libraries of the Commonwealth and other interested institutions. Central to this collaboration is the sharing of Braille and talking books between our respective institutions so as to benefit the blind, vision impaired and print disabled of the Commonwealth. For more information visit https://www.cbtbc.org/

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