page_title: Klingon scripts
section_title: Skybox pIqaD
hierarchical_section_title: Klingon scripts / Earlier variations / Skybox pIqaD
context_page_description: The Klingon scripts are fictional alphabetic scripts used in the Star Trek movies and television shows to write the Klingon language.
  In Marc Okrand's The Klingon Dictionary, the Klingon script is called pIqaD, but no information is given about it. When Klingon letters are used in Star Trek productions, they are merely decorative graphic elements, designed to simulate real writing and to create an appropriate atmosphere.
  The Astra Image Corporation designed the letters currently used to "write" Klingon for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, although they are often incorrectly attributed to Michael Okuda. They based the letters on the Klingon battlecruiser hull markings first created by Matt Jeffries, and on Tibetan writing because the script had sharp letter forms—used as an allusion to the Klingons' love for bladed weapons.
context_section_description: The KLI-adapted version of pIqaD utilizes the character set originally assembled by author Thomas E. Scheuer in his publication "Mortas-te-Kaase - the Death's Hand Battle Fleet" fan organization group operations manual (compiled, written, illustrated and published by author Thomas E. Scheuer from 1989–1994) which the author and founder of the KLI later became a member of, and learned of the MTK character assemblage and membership booklet designations, isn't the only mapping of Klingon letters. The Astra Image letters as released in the "Mortas-te-Kaase" were taken and used in the Paramount-endorsed Bitstream font pack. They were used to make a font with ten letters of the English alphabet: "e" to "n" being represented by the ten different klingon letters. This font itself has been used by the Star Trek production team when creating Klingon graphics; however it is still used only as random gibberish on the shows. Dr. Schoen would often refer inquiries to Thomas Scheuer as he was still a student of the Klingon language at the time.  The Mortas-te-Kaase organisation was also in very close contact with linguist Marc Okrand, who was also an active member of MTK and would often release exclusive additional words and phrases through the regular publications of the organisation via their newsletter "veS QonoS".  Scheuer was never credited however, in any of Dr. Schoen's works or publications, and thus following commercial usage was not credited properly either. A copy of the original release as photocopied from MTK member manual is displayed at the right. (See also the MTK 1990 Klin-Kon flier utilizing the MTK pIqaD)
  The trading card company Skybox used this font when they created the Klingon language cards in their Star Trek: The Next Generation trading card collection. The Klingon cards themselves detail aspects of Klingon culture and feature pIqaD text and a transliteration and translation provided by Marc Okrand. Some of these cards, notably S7, S8, and S9, feature pIqaD, which corresponds to the Latin transcription.
  Other known cards include S19 and S20 (which contain belittling references to Blockbuster, probably an allusion to Blockbuster Video) the season seven card selection s37, s38 and s39 (which featured no actual tlhIngan Hol, but only English and on card S39 Latin, written in the Skybox alphabet), and finally, the Checklist cards for each season's set of cards had the word cards written in Klingon on them when listing the above-mentioned cards.
  The script is written in horizontal lines running from left to right, top to bottom, just like English. Klingon can be written with spaces between words (a word being defined as any noun, verb or leftover, plus any prefixes and suffixes attached to it) and punctuation. When this is the case, two punctuation marks are used:
  An "up-turned triangle" with a function similar to a comma, semi-colon or colon.
  A "down-turned" triangle with a function similar to a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
  The triangular punctuation marks have been accepted into the common usage of the KLI pIqaD (see above).
  Klingon can also be written with no spaces or punctuation at all; this form is more common on the TV shows. As in English, Klingon text can be left-justified, center-justified, or right-justified, and written in vertical columns on banners.
  Due to its nature, the "Skybox" Alphabet is ill-suited to writing Klingon, in that ambiguity in the alphabet is apparent, so different words are spelled the same way; these are homographs. The heartiest commendations and the gravest insults could be written identically; however, context would go a long way to disambiguating homographs.
caption: Skybox pIqaD text sample
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