Programming in Tongues

nuqneH! kaltxi! Su cuy'gar! Did you miss me??

...And I'm back! Heck, it's only been ..... four years!?!?

About that greeting....

nuqneH! tlhIngan Hol (Klingon)
kaltxi! Navi' (Avatar)
Su cuy'gar! Mando'a (Star Wars)

Building a Tiny Language Lab

What's new?! Have you heard of micro:bit? It is an amazing "bit of kit" as the saying goes. A computer powered by two AAA batteries, with light, gee force, angle, compass sensors. Two input buttons, audio output, A 5x5 matrix of LEDs and connectors for more input and ability to drive motors.

Using makecode.microbit.com you can program it with a block language or Javascript.

Well, my go-to when learning a new programming language or environment is to say "how can I connect this to alien languages?" So I created a simple program to play with vocabulary from tlhIngan Hol, Navi' and Mando'a.

I chose 13 English words that had equivalents in all three and built this program:

http://mrklingo.freeshell.org/xenolang3.html (links to micro:bit simulator)

Not sure how practical it is, but it will show you the alien language when you press the "B" button. The "A" button toggles between K(lingon), M(ando'a) and N(avi'). To move forward and back in the vocabulary you tilt the device left (back) or right (forward). Shaking the device jumps to a random entry in the list.

For another bit of fun I programmed Psalm 117 into the micro:bit -

http://mrklingo.freeshell.org/psalm117.html (links to micro:bit simulator)

Pressing A gives the Living Bible translation, B give (transliterated) Hebrew, and A+B shows my translation into tllhIngan Hol.

Next steps? I'm planning to adapt the xenolang3 program into a Scratch version with more features!

Word Generator in Scratch!

My experiments using Scratch continue! My new project is a simple word generator.

The project lets you set a list of "vowels," "consonants" and five rules, which are chosen at random. For every letter C a random consonant is chosen, every letter V, a vowel is picked. Note: you choose what the vowels and consonants are, and the number of each determines the frequency picked. You can give it a try - and if you sign up at scratch.mit.edu, you can remix it yourself

The Protocol Droid Awakens! And this blog!

The Hour of Code for 2015 is over, but I'm still enjoying programming with Scratch (you can too! See scratch.mit.edu), so, to go along with The Force Awakens, here's a protocol droid programmed to know all kinds of words and phrases from the Galaxy Far, Far Away!

I'm planning to reinvigorate this blog - as a blog, not podcast - to go along with my two alien language podcasts, A Klingon Word from the Word, and A Mando'a Word for a Warrior. Stay tuned!

Ho, Ho, Ho - an early Christmas present!

I've been getting ready to volunteer for the Hour of Code this week - and one thing I did was experiment with Scratch - the fascinating language for learning (and more!). So I have created a new version of the Universal Translator Assistant - click here to give it a try (note: requires Flash):

nuqneH! Remember me??

I'm still here, still practicing my curious form of xenolinguistics. The time has been found to blog (or podcast) but here's a stab at a bit of blogging.

I can see that the increased scrutiny on Java means that, for many, my Java applets may not easily function. I'd be interested in hearing if many use them and if that's a problem. The form based tools, and the VB downloads should still work fine. [Note: I'm in favor of the increased security - if my programs are a casualty, it's probably a good trade-off (not that there is anything insecure in my Java that I know of....)]

I'm playing with some fonts - I may add some Trek fonts to my miitkad program (or make a Trek version). I'd also like to make a simple Trek phrasebook program like the Star Wars one - that will definitely have Klinzhai and Vulcan. Here's Klinzhai font in miitkad

Kaltxi! New Words from a New World!

(click for podcast)

By this time, it would be surprising to find anyone who hasn't heard of James Cameron's new blockbuster, Avatar. The most exciting thing about it - at least to me is the Na'vi language!

The Na’vi language is the constructed language of the Na’vi, the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of the fictional moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. Na’vi was designed to fit James Cameron's conception of what the language should sound like in the film, to be realistically learnable by the fictional human characters of the film, and to be pronounceable by the actors, but to not closely resemble any single human language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%27vi_language

Even better, there is a terrific community already discussing and providing resources to learn the language at http://www.learnnavi.org - check it out!