Beginners' Grammarian

The Beginners' Grammarian, abbreviated BG, is a position in the tlhIngan-Hol Email Discussion Forum, held by a competent Klingonist whose job it was to answer questions posed by beginners.

Contents of this page:

History
Klingon name
List of Beginners' Grammarians
Job description
See also
References

History

It was felt that it was overwhelming for a beginner to have his question answered a dozen times by a horde of well-intentioned veterans. So one noble soul was chosen to have the right of first strike, as it were, and so any post labeled "KLBC" (or obviously from a complete newcomer) must be left unanswered until after the Beginners' Grammarian has had his say.

The length of the BG's tenure was not formally fixed, but soon a term of approximately one year became the de facto norm (though some terms have been shorter or longer according to individual circumstances). After around 2006, the position of BG gradually fell into disuse due to a gradual decrease in activity on the KLI mailing list. For instance, there was only one KLBC-request in 2007, which has been answered by Terrence Donnelly as a BG (1). After some years of the position lying dormant, John Harness was appointed as the new BG in late 2015. He did his job for about a year, but when the number of requests constantly went down to zero, the actions as BG also stoppped, but never with a set date.

Klingon name

There is a word used on the mailing list, which is not canon, but nearly everyone uses and understands: pabpo', meaning "Grammarian".

It's origin is not 100% sure, but there is one note by Holtej of July 26, 2005:

Krankor confided to me at the Las Vegas qep'a' (1999) that he (Krankor) made it up, in the early days of the old mailing list (run by Elias Israel). He said that, back in those days, there wasn't as much awareness or concern about not making stuff up, and that this is one usage/convention that has persisted through to this day.

Captain Krankor explained its incorrect use(2)

po' is definitely in TKD. pabpo' is a constructed compound. In retrospect, it is not the grammatically best compound, as it relies on the somewhat tenuous assumption that po' could also be used as a noun. One could argue that pabpo'wI' would be better, but we've been using pabpo' for so long on this list that as far as I'm concerned, it has passed into common usage. If nothing else, it is an interesting historic marker of how much my own tlhIngan Hol skills have improved since Eli and I started this list; it is doubtful I would let that slip by today.

➞ Read more on KLI words.

List of Beginners' Grammarians

no	Name	Klingon name	Began	Period	Feature
1	Barbara Dobelbower	HoD trI'Qal	3 March 1994	95	Inaugural BG
2	d'Armond Speers	Holtej	6 June 1994	70
3	William Martin	charghwI'	15 August 1994	227
4	Randall Franklin	yoDtargh	30 March 1995	297
5	Alan Anderson	ghunchu'wI'	21 January 1996	212
6	Barbara Dobelbower	HoD trI'Qal	20 August 1996	71	Only BG to serve a second term
7	David Trimboli	SuStel	30 October 1996	299
8	Robyn Stewart	Qov	25 August 1997	365	First BG outside the US
9	Eric Andeen	pagh	25 August 1998	732	Longest-serving BG (2 years, 1 day)
10	Tad Stauffer	taD	26 August 2000	395	Youngest BG (20 years, 11 months)
11	Roger Cheesbro	DloraH	25 September 2001	380
12	Lieven Litaer	Quvar	10 October 2002	426	First European, first non-native English-speaking BG
13	Scott Willis	ngabwI'	10 December 2003	373
14	Rhona Fenwick	QeS la'	17 December 2004	379	First Southern Hemisphere BG
15	Terrence Donnelly	ter'eS	31 December 2005	518	*
16	John Harness	'arHa	11 November 2015	460	Stepped down on 13 February 2017

* Due to an absence of beginner-level list participants at the time, the role of BG fell largely into disuse during 2006, so it is difficult to define the exact number of days served in this term. It is therefore defined as ending with Terry's last known posting to the list in the role of BG, which was on 1 June 2007. (3)

Job description

This is not an official guide, but describes the main aspects of the Beginners' Grammarian:

A Beginners Grammarian's job is not only about grammar. He or she has to welcome each apparent newbie and tell him where to start. That's why it's very important that the BG has enough time to answer emails almost daily. If students have to wait for answers for one week, they may lose interest in learning.

A BG should have access to almost all canon sources, which has become much easier because of the Internet.

The BG must NOT know everything, but should at least be able to know where to look for something when a student asks (which is a good practice for the BG as well).

As a level of knowledge, the BG should be able to pass KLCP Level 1 with ease, and should not be afraid to attempt Level 2 certification. This is not mandatory, however, and demonstrated Klingon ability may stand in lieu of formal certification.

A BG should be able to write comprehensive sentences and be able to explain things.

The BG must be patient, answering each question, however simple (or "stupid") it may sound. Be ready to answer the same question over and over.

The BG should take his duty at least for several months, ideally for one year, so that he has the time get to know his students and accompany them during their learning process.