There have been several firsts since the time we launched this blog: the unique bi-lingual viewer for webpage translation, powerful collaboration & customization technologies, the  augmented reality translation within the Translator app, which even works when offline, the machine translation system trained for first response in Haiti (built in 5 days) and the first deeply community partnered supported language (Hmong). Today we can confirm what you might already have heard of the Klingon Empire – the availability of the first Klingon machine translation system.

Klingon^* is now a supported option on the Bing Translator site, allowing you to translate text snippets and web pages to and from Klingon.  Bing Translator for Windows Phone added Klingon as a supported language, for text mode input/output and camera mode output. On the Bing Translator site, you can also choose to translate to both Latin-script Klingon and to plqaD (the Klingon script). Please note that if you are translating from Klingon, you would need to explicitly select the language (rather than rely on Auto-detect).

This system has been built as a labor of love, in close partnership with members of the Klingon Language Institute (KLI) headed by Dr.Lawrence Schoen, Prof. Marc Okrand, the inventor of the Klingon language, many other Klingon enthusiasts inside and outside Microsoft. We received fantastic support from our fellow Star Trek fans at Paramount and CBS.

Building a new translation system from scratch is a challenging affair, requiring a large amount of training documents, many iterations of training the engine, reviewing and evaluating, and repeating this many times. What you initially get is mostly unintelligible, and with continued learning comes the improvement – both in vocabulary and in fluency. While there is a great amount of training material for such a system in mainstream languages like English, French or German, Klingon is a language that does not (yet!) have a comparable volume of “parallel” (translated) text, or even material in Klingon alone. Our friends in the community were able to help us gather what is available, and used the Microsoft Translator Hub to train the initial engine. Members of the community were then able to review, critique and correct the translation errors this infant system was making. These corrections directly influenced the next training run, and thus the system has been getting better every day. Given its infancy, and the distance it has yet to travel to achieve the necessary fluency and vocabulary – Klingon will stay as an experimental language in Bing Translator for the time being.

We wish to thank the Klingon language community, Prof.Okrand, Dr.Schoen and CBS/Paramount for helping make this a reality. If you are a Klingon speaker and wish to join the Hub community built around this effort, please email lawrence@kli.org or translator@microsoft.com. Not everyone can have Lieutenant Uhura translate for them, so we hope Bing Translator’s Klingon support comes handy next time you are in a pinch.

lupDujHomwIj lubuy’moH gharghmey

– Vikram Dendi & the Translator team at Microsoft

Update (2:52 PM): Added note about auto-detection, and other minor edits.

* Klingon is a trademark of CBS Studios Inc.

 

Here is a translated version of the original Klingon Empire Announcement:  

 

SIbI’ maqlu’

Immediately proclaimed  

DaH tlhIngan Hol mughlaH Bing Translator ‘e’ maq tlhIngan yejquv

The Klingon High Council announces that Bing Translator can now translate Klingon

 

tlhIngan Hol ‘oH qIb Hol wa’DIch’e’ mughlaHbogh Bing Translator ‘e’ maq tlhIngan yejquv, boqbogh tlhIngan Hol yejHaD, Microsoft je.

 Klingon is the first galactic language which can be translated by Bing Translator, announces the Klingon High Council, in alliance with the Klingon Language Institute and Microsoft.

qaStaHvIS DISmey, yuQjIjDIvI’ luSuchtaHvIS tlhInganpu”e’, Qatlhqu’ tlhIngan Hol mughmeH ‘ej tera’ Holmey mu’tlhegh lIngmeH Qu’, nuja’ tlhInganpu’. tera’ Holmey rurbe’chu’ tlhIngan Hol, ‘ej ‘oH HaDtaH tera’ngan law’. wejmaH tera’ Sep, Hoch puH’a’ je Dab HaDwI’pu’. qIb ghatlh tlhIngan Hol, tlhIngan tIgh je ‘e’ ‘agh ngoDvam.

For years, Klingons have told us that the task of translating Klingon and producing sentences in Earth languages while visiting the UFP is very difficult. Klingon is truly unlike Earth languages, and many Earthlings (continue to) study it. Students (of Klingon) live in thirty different Earth regions (countries) and all great landmasses. This fact demonstrates the galactic dominance of Klingon language and the Klingon Way.

tlhIngan Hol chelta’mo’ Bing Translator, qIb lengwI’vaD, tlhIngan wo’ SuchwI’vaD je nuH ‘ut mojbej mughwI’. Hoch SepDaq, tera’nganvaD tlhIngan Hol, tlhIngan tIgh je lIH Bing Translator mughmeH laHmey. pIj mughwI’ lo’chugh taghwI’, nom tlhIngan Hol pab pIn moj.

Because Bing Translator has added Klingon, the translator will certainly become and essential weapon (tool) for (the) galactic traveler and (the) visitor to the Klingon Empire. In every region (country), the translation abilities of Bing Translator will introduce Earthlings to the Klingon language and the Klingon Way (culture). If beginners frequently use the translator, they will quickly become grammarians of the Klingon language.

Qo’noS Qombogh muD, tuj’a’, Debmey tIn je SIQlaH tera’nganpu’. pIraQSIS Qaw’lu’mo’ choHpu’ Qo’noS ‘e’ leghlaH je. Bing Translator lo’taHvIS lengwI’, lengDI’ bel, ‘ej roD batlhHa’ vangbe’laH ‘ej tIgh chach junlaH. Microsoft Bing Translator, qum chaw’ je ghajchugh «SuvwI’ lengmey» lengwI’, tlhIngan SuvmeH tIgh ‘ut ghojlaH, qagh SoplaH ghopDu’Daj lo’taHvIS, ‘ej pIjHa’ QumHa’.

 Earthlings will be able to endure (experience) the quaking (turbulent) atmosphere, great heat and large deserts of Qo’noS. They will also be able to see that Qo’noS has changed due to the destruction of Praxis. While the traveler uses Bing Translator, he will be comfortable while travelling, and will usually be able to not act dishonorably and avoid cultural emergencies. With Microsoft Bing Translator and a government permit, “Warrior Tours” travelers can learn essential Klingon fighting, eat qagh with their hands and infrequently miscommunicate.

che’ronDaq mughwI’ mu’tlheghmey, mu’mey je tobta’ tlhIngan Hol yejHaD. jIjDI’ tlhIngan Hubbeq, ‘ejyo’ je, toy’beH mughwI’. ‘e’ poQbej SuvwI’ Hol. DaH not Hegh SuvwI’ «HIjol» mughHa’DI’ boq beq ‘ej «HIQoj» mojDI’. taHmeH tlhIngan wo”a’ HoSghaj, lI’chu’ Bing Translator mughmeH laHmey.

The Klingon Language Institute has tested the translator’s sentences and words on the battlefield. When the Klingon Defense Force and Starfleet cooperate, the translator will be ready to serve. A warrior language certainly requires that. Now warriors will never die when “Beam me up!” is mistranslated by an alliance crew and becomes “Beam me out!” In order that the powerful great Klingon Empire continue, the translation abilities of Bing Translator will be supremely useful.

 

pItlh.