The Klingon Dictionary

1st edition of TKD

2nd edition of TKD

new 2018 cover of TKD

The Klingon Dictionary (usually abbreviated as TKD) is the primary source that describes the Klingon language. The first half of the book is a description of the grammar, and the second half contains vocabulary lists with about 1,800 words, arranged in both English -> Klingon and Klingon -> English. One should note that there are some words which appear in one side and not the other.

There is no official count available of the number of copies purchased, but in the late 1990's it was said to be more than a quarter of a million.

Unless specified, the abbreviation "TKD" refers to the second edition, because that one is identical to the first edition plus the addendum (see below).

An overview of chapters can be seen on the Portal Grammar.

Editions

First edition

The original 1985 edition is a smallish trade paperback, with a Klingon Bird of Prey depicted on a blue cover, and having yellowish pages with gold edging. The cover picture on the earliest printings is embossed; later printings are flat.

Second edition

A second edition was published in 1992, in a larger format and with a glossy white cover showing a photograph of three Klingons: Christopher Lloyd as Kruge, John Larroquette as Maltz, and Stephen Liska as Torg from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The same photograph appears on the box of the Conversational Klingon audiotape. The contents of this edition are page-for-page identical to the first, typographical errors and all, but it also includes an addendum at the end with a few pages of additional grammatical clarifications and some more vocabulary.

Red edition

In March 2018, Simon & Schuster released a new cover for TKD. This is still the second edition with the same ISBN of the original Klingon Dictionary, it's just a new cover, but not an updated version. The contents are identical.

Translations

Licensed

1995 Portuguese (Brasil): Dicionário da língua klingon
1998 German: Das offizielle Wörterbuch
1998 Italian: Il Dizionario Klingon
2008 Czech: Klingonsky Slovnik

Private projects

1998 Swedish: Klingonsk Ordbok
2008 Spanish: El Imperio Klingon (rough summary)
2017 Irish: Foclóir na Tliongáinise
2020 French: Le dictionnaire klingon

Digital

Since 2008 the book is available for E-book readers.(1)

Details

.	First edition	Second edition
Author	Marc Okrand	Marc Okrand
Published	1985	1992
Publisher	Pocket Books	Pocket Books
ISBN	0-671-54349-0	0-671-74559-X
Pages	176	192
Size	106 x 172 mm	135 x 210 mm
Weight	96 g	174 g