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An introduction to the Klingon Language
*****************************************************************************
** THIS FILE BROUGHT TO YOU BY *OPUS* FROM THE BOARD ROOM BBS 916-483-0199 **
*****************************************************************************
*************************************************************
* An Introduction to The Klingon Language *
* *
* Part 1: Introductions *
* *
*************************************************************
This guide to the Klingon Language was compiled from two main sources:
'The Final Reflection', by John M. Ford, and 'The Klingon Dictionary', by
Marc Orkand. Both books are highly reccomended for further study, as well as
these additional sources: 'The Klingons' suppliment for 'Star Trek - The Role
Playing Game', first edition (co-conceived with John M. Ford); the section on
the Klingons in both 'The Making of Star Trek' by Stephen E. Whitfield and
some guy named Roddenberry, and 'The World of Star Trek', by David Gerrold;
'Pawns and Symbols', by Majliss Larson; and anything else I may have
forgotten. And regardless of what I have forgotten, this text series is
dedicated to all those listed above and mentioned elswhere (with the
exception of Vonda McIntyre, and if by some miracle this text should reach
her, I should hope that she knows that I am not alone is wishing that she
would quit redefining everything in 'Star Trek' to suit her personal desires
and simply write entertaining novels that are ACCURATE!!!) with the confines
of this series.
Since this is meant only to be an introdution to the Klingon Language,
and not an official comprehensive text, two things need to be made clear
before continuing on to the subject matter. The first of which concerns the
source materials. As the 'Dictionary' was written by the same person who
designed both the Klingon and Vulcan languages for the 'Star Trek' films, Mr
Orkand's very excellent version of the Klingon vocabulary is considered by
Paramount Pictures as being the 'official recognized version' of the subject
in question. And due to its concise nature in detailing all of the proper
aspects of a language, is for almost all intents deserving of its status. It
really is a well done text dictionary for translating another language into
English, even if it is one that exists only in the hearts and minds of the
fans. Now, if only some other texts used for REAL languages were structured
like this....
However, as with most things concerning 'Star Trek', the fans who
actually breathe the majority of life into this American institution have had
a bit of difference of opinion on some of Mr. Orkand's material. This
conflict stems from Orkand's apparant discrediting certain Klingon language
elements as those used in 'The Final Reflection', the most notable of these
being certain 'color- ful metaphors'that are vital to any language. The fans,
while accepting the 'Dictionary' well enough to prompt multiple print runs by
the publisher, still considered the phrases in 'Reflection' as having
jurisdiction based on the fact that 'they were there first.' Not to mention
the fact that despite the small number of words presented in 'Reflection' (as
compared with roughly 15 times as much in the 'Dictionary'), John Ford's
Klingon Language elements were still able to reveal a remarkable amount of
phonetic and grammatical structure. One reviewer for a fan magazine (which
has grown so dull over the years that it will not be named here...) even made
comparisons betwixt Ford's phrases and the Russian Language, which with all
of its cases, declensions and tenses is considered one of the more complexly
structured of all Terran languages.
Still, only Orkand's version is 'officially' recognized by those who are
in publishing 'Star Trek' related material, and reportedly only the Orkand
material will 'sanctioned' for use in forthcoming 'Trek' novels and films. It
should be noted, however, that Orkand does mention in his preface that there
are several different Klingon dialects, and that the one used is dependent on
which racial or political faction is currently in power. Keeping this in
mind, it is now quite possible for both the Ford and Orkand versions to
co-exist in the 'Star Trek' universe. Adding further credability to this
notion is the fact that some of Orkand's terms have more than one Klingon
equivalent, a fact that the author also acknowledges, and states that the
differences may either be dialectically related, or may in fact refer to the
same item under different circumstances, uses, forms, or an unspecified
variant nature.
Thus, taking all of Orkand's disclaimers into consideration, as well as
the preferences of the fans, this series of Introductions will take advantage
of both versions, as well as the other smattering of phrases and terms from
some of the other 'Trek' novels and movies, most notably, terms and phrases
from "Pawns and Symbols", by Majliss Larson, and whatever can be distilled
from the first 'Trek' movie, whose Klingon and Vulcan phrases were also
concieved by Mr. Orkand, but were not supported by the versions used in the
Third film. This, in fact, may be the true reason for admitting the existence
of several different dialects: a cover for discarding prior material. I
should also note that in her most recent novel "Battlestations!", Diane Carey
also makes mention of the differing Klingon sub-races, as well as Vonda
McIntyre in her rather...well, disputed novel "Enterprise: The First
Mission". The former manages to even use races mentioned in both the Ford and
Orkand materials, while the latter merely ignores them in favor of 'her'
rather convoluted views on how the Klingons should behave. Still, their
contributions and/or contradictions neede to be mentioned here, as they may
yet pop up in this Introduction...
Finally, the second point that needs to be stressed is that the
materials presented here are, with the exception of my own personal
interpretations, the property of Paramount Pictures Inc, and any reproduction
of these materials for the intent of resale, is expressly prohibited,
forbidden, and punishable by law (or whatever its applicable equivalent
happens to be at the moment of the arrest...). This material can be
distributed as freeware only, and any use of for downloading on a 'pay board'
or similar computer communications system is bound by these restrictions and
their accompanying penalties. To put it in a nutshell, this stuff is the
property of Paramount where sales are concerned, but when it's given away,
it's considered part of our national heritage, and it's things like that that
not only make this country great, but kept 'Star Trek' alive during those
bleak years of the early 70's. Paramount has, for the most part, realized
this, so don't worry about having this stuff in your hot little hands.
Besides, it's only here to make this BBS a bit more unique. Betcha won't
find this stuff on any CTSA boards, either; they have enough trouble speaking
English!!
Omega Man/Khaless III
-System Emperor
The Klingon Empire! BBS
512-471-5850
************************************************************
* An Introduction to the Klingon Language *
* *
* Part 2: Another Introduction *
* *
************************************************************
Klingonaase is the official language of the Klingon Empire, a language
that until recently was spoken by very few non-Klingons. A complex language
only due to lack of reference material, Klingonaase is a language that
requires a high fluency in order to avoid a dangerous (and possibly fatal)
slip of the tongue/vocal apparatii. This in fact was the case in several
instances over the years that the Federation and the Empire have known of one
another.
Only through the help of Maltz tai-Destram, was the true depth of the
Klingon language made apparant. Riddled with many differing dialects,
Klingon- aase is far more complex than previously believed. However, this new
level of understanding is still far from complete, and has also taken a
serious setback. Regretfully, Maltz deemed it necessary to commit ritual
suicide before he could assist in further studies, and several inportant
areas were left incomplete. Thus, this series of text files is a bit lacking
in primarily three areas.
First, of course, is scientific terminology. It is quite understandable
why Maltz was hesitant to talk about this, considering his training. Still,
another research group is in the process of collating knowledge from various
sources, including the recently declassified Vulcan 'Tharavul' files, and a
report on Klingon terms for the various sciences and their tools is currently
being prepared. It's release date is not yet knowm.
Secondly, terms for native traditional tools, customs, flora, fauna, and
food are not covered outside of what is already known. Little is known about
the Klingon homeworld and its inner Imperial states, and this is especially
the case for the items mentione above. In the area of foods, the problem is
especially large, as there is a lack of resources as well as almost a total
lack of volunteers for any sort of study on Klingon eating habits.
Thirdly, certain various sub-dialects are unrepresented here, as what
few words that are available have not been accurately translated, and no
correcting source is yet availiable. In reference to this last excluded
classification, it would be in order to list what races, sub-races, cultures
and political strata are covered in this text series. At the present time,
the following races are known to makeup the majority of races within the
Klingon Empire:
Klingon Mainline
Klingon / Human-stock Fusion
Klingon / Romulan-stock Fusion
Of these three, there are numerous other minor sub-species. For a
further explanation of these races and their relationship to one another,
please refer to the text files concerning this matter, RACES.TXT. Still, a
short list of the major Social and Cultural groups within the Empire needs to
mentioned here in order to grasp the scope of what a total tranlational/
transliterational text would have to cover in order to be complete.
The sociocultural division of the Klingon Empire are known to consist of
the following groups: Klinzhaii, or Klingonii, which is the parent race of
all the known races, and until recently held the majority of power within the
Empire. The captains Kor and Koloth are but two of the known represenatives
of this group, although the legendaty Thought Admiral Kethas and the previous
Emperor, Krenn, are perhaps the most documented examples; Rumaiym, a group
based on a religious belief in two deities, Durgath and Cymele. Recently the
Rumaiym has come into possession of the throne, though this may change in
light of the recent Genesis crisis. Captain Kang is but one of the known
examples of this group, as are his Uncle, the current Emperor, Maltz and his
crewmate, Torg; Wijngan, a smaller group that advocates the rapid
accelleration of all less developed races within the Empire (both
Klingon-stock and Non-Klingon races) to the a level slightly less developed
than the mainline of the Empire, and uniting the whole Empire on a holy war
against the Federation. Contrary to popular beliefs, this group does not
represent the general creedo of all Klingon races, as it would entail raising
even the servitor classes to a near-equal level as their masters. Krell, the
captain in charge of the Neural Technological Assistance Force, is one of the
few examples known, while Kang's wife, Mara, was allegied to this group until
well after her marrage.
Standing in a peculiar position are the Kumburan, a small group consisting
of primarily one family line dedicated to the fine art of diplomacy in all
its aspects. They are presently at odds with the Rumaiym, but are
'tolerated' due to their talents, which have become more invaluable due to
the events in recent years. The most notable representative is the
Ambassador-Judiciator Kamarrag, who not only led the negotiation team at the
Organian Peace Conference, but recently was involved in the closing events of
the Genesis Crisis; and finally, the Daqualu, or 'The Remembered'. The name
is not used as a honor, but rather as an insult upon this group, which
consists of individuals, ship crews, and even whole name-lines that have
fallen into disgrace with whichever group is currently in power. They exist
only to survive until they can regain their former status by performing some
covert (read: suicidal) service for the Empire. The one major point of
interest about the Daqawlu is the fact that they will not backstab one
another to regain their status, as they have taken a sworn vow that even
those against them regard its trangression as treason against the Empire as
a whole. The most 'Remembered' of the Daqawlu is Kruge, the captain who
attempted to steal the Genesis Device, as was his consort, Valkris.
There are also two major classifications that all Klingons are divided
into, regardless of race or creed: those who believe in the Komerex Zha, or
the 'Perpetual Game' of life, and those who do not. The belief that life is
naught but a game that is played to the end of one's existence is one that
has divided (albeit non-violently) the Empire into two roughly equal sides.
Those who do not believe in the game base their belief on the fact that a
game must have knowlegable rules of some form. Then again, it is also said
that to deny the existence of the game is itself a game strategy. Regardless,
the belief and non-belief in the Komerex Zha has a profound effect on Klingon
life in all of its myriad facets, much in the same way religion has on Terran
and Centaurian-based cultures.
As expected, each of the individual Sociocultural groups possesses their
own dialect. This is where the major complications arise when trying to
understand and translate Klingonaase, for some of these dialects differ in
only a few words, mostly those referring to words classified in the second
and third classes of exclusion used by this text. In general, Technological
and Scientific terms tend to be the same regardless of dialect, with only
minor varyances for differing forms of possession and plurality. This is
primarily for the facilitation of spreading new technologies across language
barriers.
One example of a word that has a different meaning in every known
dialect is the word for 'forehead', which can also mean 'horizon',
'hairpiece', 'green'. 'stagnant water', and 'heat'. The reasons for this kind
of difference are not yet fully understood, and may reflect words acqured
from alien languages with similar-sounding words of different meaning, such
as the case of the Russian word 'Slav', which means 'word' or 'people' in
Russian, while in German it stands for 'dumb' or 'lower'.
Also as expected, each group prides itself on the diversity of their
languages, and knowledge of more than one's own dialect is always to one's
benefit. However, the past four Emperors have put into motion Imperial Edicts
that will eventually unify all of the major dialects into a common language
(similar to the experimental Esperanto composit language of Terra), and
though this has met some resistance, it has resulted in Clipped Klingonaase,
or what is more commonly known as Battle Language. As all military personell
are taught this from the begenning of their tours of duty, Battle Language
may indeed pave the way for such a unified language. Due to its importance,
it is covered later on in this text series.
Before ending this introduction, some other facts need to be made about
the Klingons and their language. First, in lieu of a unified language for
other non-Klingons (read: the Federation) to refer to, most Klingons use
Standard Federation Galactic (a language much like 20-21st century English)
when ouside the confines of the Empire. Ergo, knowledge of Galactic is
usually limited to officers and higher-ranks, and any Klingon fluent in
Galactic has about as much leverage as one being fluent in two additional
dialects. With the number of Galactic training texts being made available to
the average Klingon increasing, the weight that such knowledge has on status
may eventually decrease over time. Still, it is a valuable tool for any
Klingon.
Secondly, with only a few exceptions in the Klingonii/Klinzhaii form of
Klingonaase, the Klingon language is virtually devoid of any sort of ritual
greetings along the lines of 'hello, how are you?', 'good morning', etc. It
would appear that outside of military protocol, this sort of communication
has no place in Klingon society outside of the Klingonii/Klinzhaii group. As
a whole Klingons tend to get to the main points when speaking, saving any
sort of 'idle banter' for recreational periods. Even then, the greetings are
limited to a not-so-curt 'what do you want?' or 'What is your status?'. The
Klingonii/ Klinzhaii exception appears to have derived from interaction with
alien races where such communication phrases are essential to avoiding
conflict where it is actually unbeneficial to the nature of the situation,
despite the Klingon penchant for either starting or finishing such conflicts!
Finally, it would also be in order to make note that the rest of this
text series will cover as much of the common elements of the various dialects
as possible. Where applicable, all known dialects will be represented,
although the majority of information currently deals with Rumaiym
Klingonaase. Still, the majority of this information is reflected in
Klingonii/ Klinzhaii dialect, as well as Wijngan and roughly half of what is
known of Kumburan. With this in mind, careful study should enable a
non-native speaker to communicate enough to get his point across without
finding his point supplanted by the point of a Klingon Blood Sword!
************************************************************
* An Introduction to the Klingon Language *
* *
* Part 3: The Klingon Alphabet, *
* and Pronounciation *
* Varyances with Dialects *
* *
************************************************************
The Klingons, regardless of race or culture, all use a form of writing
called pIqaD (pronouced PEE-kaD, with stress on both the pI and the D). As
this is only rudimentarily understood, with the aid of the late Maltz, a
transliterated form of the pIqaD system was concieved in order to facilitate
translation/ transliteration of the various forms of Klingonaase.
Accompanying this transliterated form is a phonetic guide that will enable
anyone who can speak in standard Galactic or English to approximate the
proper sounds of the Klingon language. With a little practice there should be
a minimum of difficulty in forming words and phrases that are at least
relatively intelligeable by most Klingons. There will be a problem with
having a 'Federation' accent, but even the most experienced non-native
Klingonaase speakers manage to retain some sort of an accent regardless of
the amount of training and use they recieve.
The transliterated form of pIqaD is arranged as follows:
a,b,ch,D,e,gh,H,I,j,l,m,n,ng,o,p,q,Q,r,S,t,tlh,u,v,w,y,'
Note that ch,gh,ng and tlh are considered separate letters, so the
syllable 'no' would proceed the syllable 'nga' in a Klingon listing.
The following is the phonetic guide for the pIqad above:
VOWELS
a - as in psalm or awful, but never as in crabapple.
e - as in sensor or jenny
I - as in misfit or idiom. It can be as in zucchini, but this appears to
be limited to plurality in Klingonii/Klinhaii dialect as far as wide
useage goes. For the most part, though, only rarely.
o - as in mosaic or modem
u - as in prune or june or gnu, but never as in but or cute
Note here that when a vowel is followed by w or y, the combination of
sound may not represent the same sound as in the Galactic/English
spelling
pIqaD sounds like as in English
aw ow cow
ay y cry
ey ay pay
Iy ey key
oy oy toy
*** CONSONANTS ***
b - as in bronchitis or gazebo. Some Klingons, primarily the Wijngan,
tend to pronounce this sound as if it were m and b articulated
almost simultaneously. This sound variant can be approximated my by
saying imbalance without the initial i sound. Some Daqawlu speakers
tend to interpose the m and the b sounds.
ch - as in chew or artichoke or cheese.
D - this sound is close to the d in android, but is not quite the
same, as in English d is made by touching the tip of the tongue to
that part of the roof of the mouth just above the teeth. Klingon D
can be approximated by placing the tongue slightly higher above the
teeth than in English d . In Wijngan dialect, this is also
pronounced more like it was nd, as in hand, while many Kumburan
speakers actually drop the d to a silent letter and just use the
n, as in can.
gh - this is not like anything in Galactic/English. It can be produced by
putting the tongue in the same position it would be to say g in
the word gobble, but relaxing the tongue somewhat and humming. It is
the same as Klingon H (see below), but with the vocal chords
vibrating at the same time.
H - This is also not like anything in Galactic/English. It is best
approx- imated by the ch sound in Bach. It is produced in the same
way as in Klingon gh, but with a strong articulated rasp, and the
vocal chords do not vibrate. In Kumburan and Daqawlu dialects, the
rasp is a bit less stressed, more like the j in Tijuana.
j - as in Junk, but never as French jour, regardless of dialect.
l - as in lunge or alchemy
m - as in mud or pneumatic. Daqawlu speakers who transpose the m and
b sounds must learn to memorize the correct spellings without the
aid of phonetic interpretation.
n - as in nectar or sunspot. Kumburan speakers who pronounce Klingon D
as n have shown that they can indeed tell the difference between
the two sounds when articuated by another Kumburan speaker. Even a
D that sounds like n in pronounced with the tongue in the Klingon
D position and not the English d position. Klingon n is produced
with the tongue in the same position as Galactic/English d.
ng - as in furlong, never as in engulf. The g is never pronounced as a
separate sound, and although it never occurs at the start of English
words, it does so for many words in Klingonaase. It can be best
spoken by saying the words 'dang it!', but without the 'da'.
p - as in parallax, and always with a strong puff or pop. This normally
discharges saliva, which is something Klingonaase speakers never
worry about, especially Daqawlu speakers.
q - this is similar to the k in kumquat, but not quite. Klingon q is
pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth much
farther back than it does in gh or H. In fact, it almost sounds
like the speaker is choking (much like certain attempts of
non-speakers in the use of French). This sound is also accompanied
by a puff of air. It is never pronounced kw, as in quagmire.
Q - This is a rather overdone Klingon q. It is identical to Klingon q,
but is very gutteral and raspy, and strongly articulated, somewhat
like a blend of Klingon q and H. Klingonii/Klinzhaii speakers tend
to further stress this by pronouncing it as if it had a glottal stop
between the Q and the next syllable, tho this is mostly confined to
certain more 'colorful' metaphors.
r - similar to the r in Spanish, but only lightly trilled.
S - this sound is halfway between s and sh, as in syringe and
shuttle, and is made with the tip of the tongue reaching toward that
part of the roof of the mouth which it touches in Klingon D.
t - as in tarpaulin or critique. It differs from Klingon D it two ways:
(1) like p, it is accompanied by a puff of air, and (2), the tongue
touches a position on the roof of the mouth farther foreward than
that for D.
tlh - this sound does not occur in English, byt is very much like the
sound tle in kettle, if properly pronounced. To produce this sound,
this tip of the tongue touches the same part of the roof of the
mouth it touches for t, the sides of the tongue are lowered away
from the sides of the upper teeth, and air is forced between sides
of tongue and teeth.
v - as in vulgar or demonstrative.
w - as in worry or cow. In Daqawlu and Wijngan dialects, this is often
overstressed, more like English 'hw' or 'huw'. This occasionally
will happen in the other known dialects, but it usually limited to
stresses of deliberate intent, especially in Kumburan.
' - this indicates a sound that is frequently uttered, but not written
in English. It is a glottal stop, that slight catch in the throat
between the two syllables of English 'uh-oh' or 'uh-huh'. When
Klingon ' comes at the end of a word, the vowel preceeding the ' is
often repeated in a soft whisper, as if a weak echo. When ' follows
y or w at the end of a word, there is often a whispered, echoed u
or I, respectively. Occasionally, the echo is quite audible, with a
gutteral soung like gh preceeding the echoed vowel. This commonly
occurs in Kumburan, but in other dialects this extra-heavy echo is
heard most often when the speaker is extremely angry or excited.
*** STRESS ***
Each word in Klingonaase of more than one syllable normally contains
one stressed (or accented) syllable. The stressed syllable is pronounced at a
slightly higher pitch and with a little more force than the nonstressed
one(s).
In a verb, the stressed syllable is usually the verb itself, as
opposed to any prefix or suffix. However, if a suffix ending with ' is
separated from the verb by at least one other suffix, both the verb and the
suffix ending in ' are stressed. Suffixes indicating negation or emphasis
are frequently stressed, as is the interogative suffix.
In a noun, the stressed syllable is usually the syllable right
before the first noun suffix. If, however, a syllable ending in ' is
present, it is usually stressed instead. If there are two syllables in a row
that end with a ' , then both are equally stressed.
Finally, it should be noted that there are some words which seem to
have variable stress patterns, with the stress sometimes switching from one
syllable to another. This has even been recorded as happening when a word is
spoken twice in the same sentence. This phenomenon is not yet understood, but
if accepted rules are followed, stress will wind up on accepted syllables.
In this text series, the system used to transliterate Klingonaase
does not indicate stress. The sole exception to this is the phrase text file
at the end of this series.
************************************************************
* An Introduction to the Klingon Language *
* *
* Part 4: Nouns and Suffixes *
* *
* *
************************************************************
This text file deals with Klingon nouns and their use. Before
continuing, it should be noted that a complete description of Klingon grammar
is virtually impossible due to both its complex nature and lack of
resources. However, this guide should cover enough areas for the student of
Klingonaase to be able to understand what a Klingon is saying, and be able to
communicate back, albeit in a brutish, yet intelligible manner. Most
Klingons, however, will notice know the difference, unless some breach of
conduct is in addition.
Essentially, there are three basic parts of Klingon grammar that will be
discussed here: Nouns, Verbs, and Everything Else...
NOUNS
There are various types of nouns in Klingonaase. Simple nouns, Complex
nouns, and Compound nouns. Simple nouns are nouns made up of one-syllable
words, such as DoS (target). Complex nouns are are formed from two, sometimes
three syllables that separately have no meaning, or their separate meanings
have no relationships to the complex noun. For example, lurDech (tradition)
can be broken into lur (pupil of eye) and Dech (surround), but the
definitions are not the same when the word is combined. Again, the
differences may indeed be attributed to dialectic accommodation to alien
words and phrases, but without further research materials this can only be
speculation at this time.
The third type of noun, the Compound noun, consists of two, three, and
even four nouns in a row, yet grammatically combined together into 'one'
word. An English example of course is earthworm, while in Klingonaase one
such example is jolpa' (transporter room), which is formed from jol
(transport beam) and pa' (room).
Another form of Complex noun consists of a noun followed by a verb whose
meaning is 'one who does' or 'thing that does'. This is roughly similar to
the Galactic/English suffix '-er', as in 'builder'. In Klingonaase, the
suffix is -wI'. An example of this is baHwI' (gunner), which is formed from
baH (fire <a torpedo>) and -wI' (one who does). Ergo, baHwI' is literally
'one who fires <a torpedo>.' Similarly, So'wI' (cloaking device) comes from
So' (cloak) and -wI' (that which does), and is literally 'thing which
cloaks'. Complex -wI nouns area also formed from verbs by adding the -wI
suffix, as in the Rumaiym word toy'wI' (servant), which is derived from toy'
(to serve) and -wI'. -wI' nouns can also be used with another noun to form a
new Compound noun. For example, the Klingonaase word tIjwI'ghom (boarding
party) comes from tIjwI' (boarder - tIj <to board> + -wI' <one who does>) and
ghom (group).
SUFFIXES
All nouns, wheter Simple, Compound or Complex, may be followed by one or
more suffixes. If there are two or more suffixes, they must occur in a
specific order. Suffixes may be calssified on the basis of their relative
order after the noun. There are five classes of suffixes, and for ease of
demonstration they will be referred to as Suffixes 1-5. They take on the
following form of order when used with a noun:
NOUN-1-2-3-4-5
In each case where a noun is followed by more that one suffix, each of
the suffixes must follow the noun in the same order as their class. That is,
a moun followed by a class 2, 3 and 5 suffix would have those suffixes
arranged in that order. In the case of a noun with only one suffix, class
order has, of course, no effect.
Of each of the five suffix types, there are at least two suffixes. No
two suffixes from the same type class may be used at the same time within the
same noun. Which is to say that a noun cannot be followed by two, three or
four class 3 suffixes.
The members of each suffix class are as follows:
*** Type 1 - Augmentative/Diminutive ***
-'a' augmentative. This suffix indicates that what the noun
refers to is bigger, more important, or more powerful than
it would be without the suffix
ex: Sus (wind/breeze) --> Sus'a' (strong wind)
Qagh (mistake) --> Qagh'a' (major blunder!)
woQ (power) --> woQ'a' (ultimate power)
-Hom diminutive. This is the opposite of the diminutive suffix.
it indicates that what the noun refers to is smaller, less
important, or less powerful than it would be without the
suffix.
ex: SuS (wind/breeze) --> SuSHom (wisp of air)
roj (peace) --> rojHom (short truce)
*** Type 2 - Number ***
-pu' This is a plural suffix for beings capable of using
language or possessing intelligence. It is not used for
lower forms of life, or any non-living item.
ex: yaS (officer) --> yaSpu' (officers)
-Du' This is plural for body parts of any living being
regardless of the height of development. In Klingonii/
Klinzhaii dialect this can refer to small devices, as well
as the ambulatory parts of manufacturing machines,
androids and robotic units.
ex: tlhon (nostril) --> tlhonDu' (nostrils)
-mey This is a general usage plural suffix. This can be used on
any noun except those referring to body parts.
ex: yuQ (planet) --> yuQmey (planets)
It also should be noted that this rule is violated quite
frequently in Klingon prose in such words like tlhonmey
(nostrils scattered all over the place!). Still, the
useage of such suffixes outside of normal rules is not
completely understood, and it is strongly urged that all
students of Klingonaase stick to the rules until further
understandings are made availiable.
Suffixes are not the only way that nouns are made plural. In
Klingonaase, a noun without a suffix can be made plural by the use of a
pronoun, whether a verb prefix (see PART 5: VERBS) or a full word (see PART
6: OTHER WORDS). Since the use of pronouns can become confusing, as certain
pronouns have two or more possible meanings. Luckily, it is never incorrect
to add a plural suffix to a noun referring to more than one entity, so long
as the pronoun involved, as well as the object in question, are also plural.
Finally, there are certain nouns that are already plural in nature, and
therefore never require a suffix. Their singular counterparts are distinct
from the plurals as well:
SINGULAR PLURAL
DoS (target) ray' (targets)
peng (torpedo) cha (torpedoes)
vIj (thruster) chuyDaH (thrusters)
Inherently plural nouns are treated grammatically as singular nouns in
that singular pronouns are used to refer to them.
*** TYPE 3 - QUALIFICATION ***
Suffixes of this type indicate the speaker's attitude toward the noun,
or or how sure the speaker is that the noun is being used properly.
-qoq so-called. This suffix indicates that the noun is being
used in a false or ironic fashion.
-Hey apparant. This suffix indicates that the user is pretty
sure the object referred to by the noun is accurately
described by the noun, but has some doubts.
-na' definite. This is the counterpart of -Hey. It indicates
that there is no doubt in the speaker's mind as to the
accuracy of his/her choice of words.
*** TYPE 4 - POSSESSION/SPECIFICATION ***
Type 4 is the largest class of noun suffixes. It contains all of the
known possessive suffixes, as well as suffixes which can be translated to
Galactic/English as this and that.
-wIj --> my -lIj --> your -Daj --> his, her, its
-maj --> our -raj --> your (plural) -chaj --> their
When a noun being possessed refers to a being capabl of using language,
a special set of suffixes is used for first and second-person possessors:
-wI' --> my -lI' --> your -ma' --> our -ra' --> your (plural)
Although gramatically correct, these possessors should never be used in
reference towards another being capable of speech outside of one's younger
offspring or one's servitors. Students of Klingonaase should bear this in
mind, as claiming a personal possession of a superior is considered a strong
insult!
There are two suffixes that indicate how close to the speaker the object
in question is:
-vam --> this -vetlh --> that
When used with plural nouns, these suffixes possess the following
meanings:
-vam --> these -vetlh --> those
It should be noted that there are no Klingonaase equivalents to English
'a', 'and', or 'the'. When translating into Galactic/English, the student of
the Klingon Language should use the context of what is being said to
determine when to use these excluded articles.
*** TYPE 5 - SYNTACTIC MARKERS ***
These suffixes indicate something about the function of the noun in the
sentence. Subjects and Objects of sentences in Klingonaase are indicated by
word order in most cases. While most syntactical markers are represeted by
whole words, the exceptions are covered by adding prepositions to the nouns
in in question. Such prepositions take the form of the following suffixes:
-Daq locative. This suffix indicates that something is
happening or will happen, or has happened in the vicinity
of the noun to which it is attatched. It is normally
translated as 'to', 'on', 'in', or 'at'.
-vo this is translated as 'from'. Similar to -Daq, but is used
only to when the action is in a direction away from the
noun suffixed with -vo.
-mo blame, cause of. This is translated as 'due to' or
'because of'. It's used to denote which noun is the cause
of a particular action.
-vaD for, intended for. This suffix indicates that the
attatched noun is in some way the target or beneficiary of
either the action or the person or thing for whom or for
which the activity occurs.
-'e' topic. This suffix emphasizes that the noun to which it is
attatched is the topic of the sentence. This is similar to
overstressing the noun in an English sentence in order to
emphasize its importance.
These suffixes also are used in noun-noun constructions, which produce
even more complex noun structures. Simply put, when a noun part begins a
sentence, the suffix order continues for the suffixes attatched to that noun
part, then when the next noun part is placed in sequence, the suffix order is
restarted.
ex: jaghpu' yuQmeyDaq (at/to the enemies' planets)
jagh --> noun --> enemy
-pu' --> C2 suffix --) plural
yuQ --> noun --> planet
-mey --> C2 suffix --> plural
-Daq --> C5 suffix --> locative
Finally, Prepositional phrases are rendered in Klingonaase by the
noun-noun construction. Concepts like 'above' and 'below' are actually nouns,
best translated as 'area above' or 'area below', respectively. In such cases,
the locative suffix occurs after the second noun in the pair.
************************************************************
* An Introduction to the Klingon Language *
* *
* Part 5: Verbs *
* *
************************************************************
Klingon verbs are mostly one-syllable words which may be accompanied by
several affixes. As with Klingon nouns, Klingonaase verbs may take suffixes
falling into a number of types based on their relative positions following
the verb. Of these suffixes, there are nine types. Unlike Klingon nouns,
Klingonaase verbs may also take on a prefix. Thus, if verb suffix classes are
denoted by numbers in the same fashion as for nouns, the structure of a
Klingon verb is as follows:
PREFIX-VERB-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Each Klingon verb begins with a single prefix that indicates who or what
is performing the action described by the verb, and, when applicable, who or
what is the recipient of that action. In other words, prefixes for verbs in
Klingonaase can indicate both the subject and object of the sentence. The
basic set of prefixes can be presented in a chart, as in the one below:
VERB PREFIXES
OBJECT --> . None . me . you . him/ . us . you . them .
. . . . her/ . . (plural). .
. . . . it/ . . . .
SUBJECT \/ . . . . . . . .
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I . jI- . __ . qa- . vI- . __ . Sa- . vI- .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
you . bI- . cho- . __ . Da- . ju- . __ . Da- .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
he/she/it . (0) . mu- . Du- . (0) . nu- . lI- . (0) .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
we . ma- . __ . pI- . wI- . __ . re- . DI- .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
you (plural) . Su- . tu- . __ . bo- . che- . __ . bo- .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
them . (0) . mu- . nI- . lu- . nu- . lI- . (0) .
____________________________________________________________________________
Please note that in order to simplify such a complex chart, some
prefixes are repeated for clarity, and both the object and subject are
combined into a single prefix. The (0) in the chart refers to the fact that
these particular subject-object combinations are indicated by the absence of
a prefix before the verb. In the case of the '__', this indicates that these
particular combinations cannot be expressed with the Klingonaase verp prefix
system, and must therefore be managed with pronouns (See PART 6: OTHER WORDS)
and/or with verb suffixes.
Before discussing these verb suffixes, it would be in order to
demonstrate how these prefixes are utilzed. The first collumn is used when
there is/are no object(s), meaning the verb is reflexive. In short, the verb
refers to the doer alone.
ex: Qong (to sleep)
-----------------
jIQong (I sleep) | maQong (we sleep)
|
bIQong (you sleep) | SuQong (you <plural> sleep)
|
Qong (he/she/ | Qong (they sleep)
it sleeps) |
The remaining prefix forms refer to the subject and object as two
totally different entities.
ex: legh (to see)
----------------
qalegh (I see you) | cholegh (You see me)
|
vIlegh (I see him/her | mulegh (he/she/it sees me,
it/them) | they see me)
|
Salegh (I see you <pl>) | tulegh (You <pl> see me)
|
Dalegh (You see him/her | Dulegh (he/she/it sees you)
it/them) |
| pIlegh (we see you)
julegh (You see us) |
| lulegh (they see him/her/it)
legh (he/she/it sees |
him/her/it/them, |
they see them) |
There is one final set of verb prefixes in Klingonaase, ones used for
imperatives. That is, verbs used in giving commands. Such commands can only
be given to 'you' or 'you (plural)'. As will become apparant, not all verbs
will become gramatically correct when translated from Klingonaase, but are
correct in usage. Note that in one exception, the identical prefix is used
regardless of whether the command is given to one or more than one person.
The sole exception refers to situations where a command is given to several
people, but there is no object in question.
Object --> . none . me . him/her/it . us . them .
............................................................
you . yI- . HI- . yI- . gho- . tl- .
. . . . . .
you (plural) . pe- . HI- . yI- . gho- . tl- .
............................................................
In translation, it should be remembered that these verbs involve a
direct command and require an exclamation mark in the translated sentence.
ex: qIp (to hit)
------------
|
yIqIp (Hit!) | ghoqIp (Hit us!)
|
peqIp (Hit! <pl>) | tIqIp (Hit them!)
|
HIqIp (hit me!) | yIqIp (Hit him/her/it!)
VERB SUFFIXES
As mentioned before, there are nine types of verb suffixes. The rules of
order for Klingon verbs are the same as for nouns, with one exception: so
far, there are no recorded instances of compound verb structures such as the
noun-noun configurations. Although this is theoretically possible (and is, in
fact, done in certain Tellarite dialects), it does not yet appear to happen
in the verb structures of Klingonaase. Therefore, one verb per verb
structure.
TYPE 1: ONESELF / ONE ANOTHER
-'egh Oneself. This suffix is used to indicate that the
action described by the verb affects the performer of
the action, the subject. It is translated into
Galactic/English as 'self'. When this suffix is used,
the prefix set used to indicate 'no object' must also
be used.
ex: jIqIp'egh (I hit myself)
bIqIp'egh (you hit yourself)
qIp'egh (he/she hits him/herself)
It is also possible to use this suffix with imperative
verbs. The 'no object' prefixes must also be used.
ex: yIja''egh (tell yourself!)
(ja'<to tell>)
peja''egh (tell yourselves!)
-chug one another. This suffix is used only with plural
subjects. It is best translated as 'each other' or 'one
another'. The prefix set indicating 'no object' is also
used when this suffix is used.
ex: maqIpchug (we hit each other)
SuqIpchug (you <pl> hit each other)
qIpchug (they hit each other)
peqIpchug (hit each other!)
TYPE 2: VOLITION / PREDESPOSITION
Suffixes of this type express how much choice the subject has about the
action described, or how predisposed the subject is toward doing it.
-nIS need.
ex: vIleghnIS (I need to see him/her)
bISopnIS (You need to eat)
(Sop <to eat>)
-qang willing.
ex: Heghqang (He/She is willing to die)
(Hegh <to die>)
qaja'qang (I am willing to tell you)
(ja' <to tell>)
-rup ready, prepared (referred to beings)
ex: Heghrup (He/She is ready to die)
(Hegh <to die>)
qaleghrup (I am ready to see you)
(legh <to see>)
-beH ready, set up (referred to devices)
ex: pojbeH (<the defice> is ready to analyze it)
labbeH (<the device> is ready to transmit data)
(lab <transmit data>)
-vIp afraid
ex: choHoHvIp (you are afraid to kill me)
(HoH <to kill>)
nuqIpvIp (they are afraid to hit us)
(qIp <to hit>)
NOTE: although this suffix is gramatically correct when
used with a prefix meaning 'I' or 'we', it is
considered culturally taboo, and is therefor
rarely used, except in prose or in insult.
TYPE 3: CHANGE
Suffixes of this type indicate that the action described by the verb
involves a change of some kind of state of affairs that existed before the
action occured.
-choH change in state, change in direction
ex: maDo'choH (we are becoming lucky;
we are undergoing a turn in luck)
(Do' <to be lucky>)
ghoSchoH (he/she is begenning to go <somewhere>)
(ghoS <to go>)
NOTE: The second example implies that he/she was
going either nowhere, or somewhere else just
before the phrase was uttered. Note that the
translation of this suffix can also be said
as 'become' or 'begin to'
-qa' resume. Using this suffix implies that an action had
been taking place, then stopped, and has begun again.
ex: vInejqa' (I am resuming the search;
I am searching for him/her again)
(nej <to search>)
TYPE 4: CAUSE
-moH cause. Adding this suffix to a verb indicates that the
subject is causing a change of condition, or causing a
new condition to come in existence.
ex: vIHoHmoH (I am killing him/her/it)
(HoH <to kill>)
HIQoymoH (let me hear <something>)
(Qoy <to hear>)
NOTE: In this last sentence, the more literal
translation is 'cause me to hear
<something>'. Also, this sentence is not a
request, but more a command!
TYPE 5: INDEFINITE SUBJECT / ABILITY
These next two suffixes have very little to do with each other except
for being classified as Type 5. As a result, no verb occurs with both of
these uffixes at the same time.
-lu' indefinite subject. This suffix is to indicate that the
subject is unknown, indefinite, and/or generalized.
Also, pronominal prefixes are used in a different way.
Those used to denote 1st, 2nd or 3rd person subjects
instead refer to the respective objects. Ergo, any verb
with -lu' means 'something/someone does something to
me/him/her/it /them', as opposed to I/you/he/she
/it/they do something to someone/something.
ex: Daqawlu' (someone/something remembers you)
(qaw <to remember>)
-laH Can, able
ex: jIQonglaH (I can sleep)
(Qong <to sleep>)
choleghlaH (you can see me)
(legh <to see>)
TYPE 6: QUALIFICATION
This type of suffix is similar to the Class 3 noun suffixes, in that
they show how sure the speaker is about what is being said. It expresses the
degree of certainty, or uncertainty if applicable. It can be translated into
Galactic/English as 'I think' or 'I suspect', especially in the case of the
third suffix below:
-chu' clearly, perfectly
ex: jIyajchu' (I understand clearly/perfectly)
(yaj <to understand>)
-bej certainly, undoubtedly
ex: chImbej (it is undoubtedly empty)
(chIm <be empty>)
-law' seemingly, apparantly
ex: nuSeHlaw' (he/she seems to be controlling us)
(SeH <to control>)
TYPE 7: ASPECT
It is here that one of the more important points about Klingonaase
arises. The language does not express past, present or future tenses. Such
ideas must be expressed through context or other words in the sentence, as in
wa'leS (tomorrow). Klingonaase does, however, indicate aspect. In other
words, whether an action is or is not completed, and whether an action is a
singular event or a continuing one. The absence of a type 7 suffix usually
means that the event is neither completed of continuous. This is translated
into Galactic/English as simple present tense, unless other words in the
sentence indicate the action is is to take place in the future.
Action that has already taken place, or has been completed, are denoted
with the following:
-pu' perfective. This suffix indicates that an action is
completed. It is often translated as 'have done
something'.
ex: Daleghpu' (you have seen it)
(legh <to see>)
-ta' accomplished, done. This suffix is similar to -pu', but
it is used when an action is deliberately undertaken.
The indication in this case is that someone set out to
do something and in fact did it. English translations
seldom reveal this distinction.
ex: luHoHta' (they have killed him/her)
(HoH <to kill>)
NOTE: had the act of killing been an accident, or
had been a general attack not intended to
kill a specific person, then in such cases
-pu' would have been used.
The use of -ta' can be indicated instead with a special completion verb,
rIn (to be finished), and always takes on the suffix -taH, and no pronominal
prefix. The result, rIntaH, literally means 'it continues to be finished' or
'it remains accomplished'. Although the translations of rIntaH and -ta' are
essentially the same, most English renderings lack the notion of absolute
finality that rIntaH implies. -taH can also be used separately from rIn, as
shown below:
-taH continuous. This suffix indicates that an action is on-
going.
ex: nughoStaH (it is approaching us)
(ghoS <to approach>)
NOTE: -taH can also be used to imply that the verb is
used as an imperative yet continuing command.
ex: yIjun (execute an evasive manuver!)
(jun <to evade>)
yIjuntaH (take evasive action!)
-lI' in progress. This suffix is similar to -taH, in that it
indicates that an activity is ongoing. The difference
lies in the fact that -lI' implies that the activity
has a known goal or a definite stopping point. Or, in
other words, it suggests that progress is being made
toward that goal.
ex: muja'lI' (he/she/it is telling me)
(ja' <to tell>)
NOTE: It is possible to consider -lI' a continuous
counterpart of -ta', and -taH a continuous
counterpart of -pu'.
-q'est in progress towards a negative result. This suffix is
from Klingonii/Klinhaii dialect, and differs from the
others in the fact that it is often used as a noun as
well. The exclamation q'est! alone is a common element
of the group of 'colorful metaphors' of all known
Klingonaase dialects. It often takes on the form
Q'est!, but in this form can also obscenely refer to an
act of reproduction.
ex: jIHoHq'est (I am killing myself <By either
stupidity or accident>)
(HoH <to kill>)
Daleghq'est (you have seen it <implied error on
the part of the object>)
(legh <to see>)
TYPE 8: HONORIFIC
There is only one suffix in this category. It is used to express extreme
politeness or deference, and is used only when addressing a superior, or
someone of higher rank in the Klingon social, political, or military
heirarchy. While it is not 'officially' required, and in some dialects almost
never used, until otherwise corrected the careful student of Klingonaase
would be well advised to use this suffix when speaking to an obvious
superior. Such usage is not dangerous in this case, and is one of the few
cases where a native speaker is most likely to 'politely' offer corrective
information. That is, unless the person to whom the deference is being
expressed prefers such a honorific be used.
-neS honorific.
ex: qaleghneS (I am honored to see you)
(legh <see>)
NOTE: In Klingonii/Klinzhaii dialect, this is never
used with the neutral honorific pronoun S'Han
(the one so noted), as it is considered
redundant, and even an insult.
TYPE 9: SYNTACTIC MARKERS
These suffixes are similar to Class 5 Noun suffixes, in that they have
to do with the verb's role in the sentence. The first six suffixes below are
only briefly noted here, and are further covered in PART 7: SYNTAX.
-DI' as soon as, when
ex: DaleghDI' (as soon as you see it)
(legh <to see>)
-chugh if
ex: choja'chugh (if you tell me)
(ja' <to tell>)
-pa' before
choja'pa' (before you tell me)
-vIS while. This suffix is always used with the Type 7 verb
suffix -taH.
ex: biQongtaHvIS (while you are sleeping)
(Qong <to sleep>)
-bogh which. This is the relative clause marker. See part 7
for examples.
-meH for. This marks purpose clauses. See Part 7 for
examples as well.
-'a' interorgative. This suffix indicates that the sentence
is a yes/no question.
ex: yaj'a' (does he/she understand?)
(yaj <to understand>)
bIHoH'a' (did you kill him/her?)
(HoH <to kill>)
-wI' one who does, thing which does. This is the suffix that
turns verbs into nouns, as described in PART 4: NOUNS.
ex: So'wI' (Cloaking Device)
(So' <to cloak, to hide>)
joqwI' (flag, standard, banner)
(joq <to flutter, to wave>)
Please keep in mind that these suffixes do follow an order following the
verb, and that only one of each type of suffix can occur within a simgle verb
structure.
There is, however, one additional set of verb suffixes which do not
follow the rules of order. These are called lengwI'mey (leng <to travel, to
roam> + -wI' <thing which does> + -mey <plural>), or in Galactic/English,
'Rovers'. Rovers are verb suffixes which do not have a fixed position, and
can occur anywhere after the verb with one exception. That exception is that
they cannot occur after Type 9 suffixes.
Their are two subtypes of rovers, the emphatic and the negative. Their
positions are determined by the meaning intended. In otherwords, they follow
the verb or verb suffix that they are to emphasize or negate.
-be' not. This is the general suffix of negation. It follows
the concept being negated.
ex: qay'be' (it is not a problem)
(qay' <be a problem>)
To demonstrate how sentences can change in meaning with the position of
-be', look at the following sentences:
choHohvIp (you are afraid to kill me)
choHoHvIpbe' (you are not afraid to kill me)
choHohbe'vIp (you are afraid not to kill me)
The suffix -be' cannot be used with imperative verbs. For imperative
verbs the following suffix is used:
-Qo' don't! won't! This suffix is used in imperatives to
denote refusal of a command.
ex: yIja'Qo' (don't tell him/her!)
(ja' <to tell>)
NOTE: unlike -be', the position of -Qo' does not
change. It occurs last in the verb structure,
unless that structire is followed by a Type 9
suffix. Nevertheless, it is still considered a
rover because it is the imperative counterpart to
-be'.
-Ha' undo. This negating suffix implies not merely that
something is not done (as in -be'), but that there is
some sort of change of state. In other words, something
that was previously done is now undone. It is much
better translated into the English suffixes 'mis-',
'de-' or 'dis-'. It can also be used if something is
done wrongly.
ex: Do'Ha' (it is unfortunate...)
(Do'<to be lucky, to be fortunate>)
Unlike -be', -Ha' can also be used in imperatives:
ex: yIchu'Ha' (disengage it!)
(chu' <to engage, to activate>)
NOTE: -Ha' always occurs immediately after the verb,
and for reasons yet unknown, the Klingons refer
to this suffix as a rover even though it occurs
in the same place following the verb. In keeping
with Klingon tradition, though, -Ha' is
classified as a rover.
-Qu' emphatic. This suffix emphasizes or affirms whatever
immediately precedes it. It can also be used in the
same verb structure as another rover, and has no order
restrictions save what is mentioned above and that it
must never follow a Type 9 suffix.
ex: yIHaghqu' (study him/her well)
(Hagh <study>)
The roving nature of -qu' can be seen in the following
set of verb structures:
pIHoHvIpbe'qu' (we are NOT afraid to kill you)
pIHoHvIpqu'be' (we are not AFRAID to kill you)
pIHoHqu'vIpbe' (we are not afraid to KILL you)
-qu' is also used in adjective forms:
ADJECTIVES
In Klingonaase, there are no adjectives as there are in Galactic/
English. These notions are expressed by Klingon verbs immediately followed by
a noun that is modified by the preceding verb.
ex: puq Doy' (tired child)
from: puq (child)
Doy' (to be tired)
The rover -qu', as mentioned before, may follow verbs acting
adjectivally. In this usage, -qu' is usually translated into English as
'very'.
ex: Dujmey tInqu' (very big ships)
from: Duj (ship, vessel)
-mey (plural)
tIn (to be big)
-qu' (emphatic)
-qu' can also be used to modify noun structures as well:
ex: Dujmeyqu' tIn (very many big ships)
from: Duj (ship, vessel)
-mey (plural)
-qu' (emphatic)
tIn (to be big)
One important note should be made, however: If a Type 5 noun suffix is
used in a sentence structure, and -qu' is used to emphasize the verb
modifying the noun, that verb can have no other suffixes.
ex: veng tInDaq (in the very big city)
from: veng (city)
tIn (to be big)
-qu' (emphatic)
-Daq (locative, in)
************************************************************
* An Introduction to the Klingon Language *
* *
* PART 6: OTHER KINDS OF WORDS *
* *
************************************************************
By far, the bulk of words in Klingonaase are nouns and verbs. There are
few others which are expediently dumped into one pile by Klingon grammarians.
This pile is commonly referred to as chuvmey, or translated in Galactic/
English, 'leftovers'. Still, it is possible to classify these leftovers
somewhat.
PRONOUNS
In addition to the possessive noun suffixes and the pronominal suffixes
for verbs, there are nine pronouns which are individual words.
jIH --> I, me | net --> that
|
SoH --> you | maH --> we, us
|
ghaH --> he/she | tlhIH --> you (plural)
him/her |
| chaH --> they, them (beings)
'oH --> it |
| bIH --> they, them (non-beings)
'e' --> that |
At first glance, it appears that there are actually 10 pronouns. The
main difference between chaH and bIH is that chaH is used for beings who are
capable of speech and possess intelligence, while bIH refers to beings that
possess either speech nor cognitive intelligence. In the case of 'e' and net,
this is discussed in PART 7: SYNTAX.
There is no grammatical gender distinction in Klingonaase. Third-person
singular pronouns can be translated as 'he' or 'she' as the context dictates.
Pronouns can also be used as nouns, but only for emphasis or increased
clarity. They, however, are not required. Ergo, the following sets of
sentences are all gramattically correct:
legh --> to see
---------------
yaS vIlegh jIH I see the officers
yaS vIlegh
jIH mulegh yaS The officer sees me
mulegh yaS
ghaH vIlegh jIH I see him/her
ghaH vIlegh
vIlegh jIH
vIlegh
Note that the last two sentences could in fact be a bit ambiguous, as
they could equally mean 'I see them' as well as 'I see her/him'. If the
context does not make it clear which meaning is intended, then pronouns can
and should be used in translation.
ghaH vIlegh I see him/her
chaH vIlegh I see them
Pronouns are not used in possessive constructions in the same way nouns
are. Instead, the set of possesive noun suffixes are used. Pronouns can also
be used as verbs, as in the sense of 'I am', etc. Finally, again, when
speaking to a native speaker, usage of pronouns is optional.
NUMBERS
Originally, the Klingons had a base-3 numeric system, which of course
will get a bit complicated as counting progresses. So, a decimal system was
adopted in order to simplyfy mathmatical and scientific concerns, especially
those that were 'gained' from other civilizations and races.
The numbers in Klingonaase are as follows. Keep in mind that some words
are different in the various dialects despite attempts at standardized
numeric unification over the past Emperial dynasties.
Rumaiym Klingonii Kumburan Daqawlu
/WIjngan
0 --> pagh pach pagh Dagh
1 --> wa' Hwa' wa' wa'
2 --> cha' Sa SHa' cha'
3 --> wej ren ren' wej
4 --> loS loS' loS' loS'
5 --> vagh wagh vagh vagh
6 --> jav ghav jav' ghiv'
7 --> Soch Sogh Soch' Soch
8 --> chorgh chorgh ghorgh chorgh
9 --> Hut HuD' Hutlh' Hut'
10 --> wa'maH Hwa'maH wa'maH wa'maH
Higher numbers are formed by adding special number-forming elements to
the basic set of numbers (1-9). Thus, wa'maH (ten) consists of wa' (one) plus
the number-forming element maH (ten). Counting essentially continues as
follows, with the numberforming elements remaining the same throughout all of
the known dialects, with one exception. Thus, Rumaiym is used for clarity:
11 --> wa'maH wa' (literally, 10 and 1)
12 --) wa'maH cha' (literally, 10 and 2)
..and so on. For higher numbers, the basic numbers are modified with the
following number-forming elements.
maH --> ten
vatlh --> hundred
SaD --> thousand
SanID --> thousand (Kumburan, Daqawlu only)
netlh --> ten thousand
bIp --> hundred thousand
'uy' --> milion
SHov' --> billion
Thus, the following elements are used as follows. Rumaiym is used for
clarity:
20 --> cha'maH (literally, two tens)
21 --> cha'maH wa' (literally, two tens and one)
.
.
30 --> wejmaH (literally, three tens)
.
.
100 --> wa'vatlh (literally, one hundred)
101 --> wa'vatlh wa' (literally, one hundred and one)
.
.
etc...
As numbers progress, the same pattern of construction continues, as in
Galactic/English:
5,347 --> vaghSad wejvatlh loSmaH Soch
(literally, 5 thousands, 3 hundreds, 4 tens and 7)
Numbers are used as nouns. As such, they may stand alone as subjects or
objects or they may modify another noun. For example:
mulegh cha' (two <of them> see me)
from: mu- <they - me pronominal prefix>
legh <to see>
cha' <two>
wa' yIHoH (kill one (of them)!)
from: wa' <one>
yI- <you - none imperative prefix>
HoH <to kill>
In the case of the second sentence, the use of wa' is only for added
emphasis, as yI- indicates a singular yet unspecified object.
Numbers can also be used as modifiers by preceeding the noun to be
modified. For example:
loS puqpu' or loS puq (four children)
vaghmaH yuQmey or vaghmaH yuQ (fifty planets)
The plural suffixes, -pu', -mey, are not necessary when a number is used
in the sentence. Again, they are added only for clarity.
When a number is used for numbering, as opposed to counting, it follows
then noun. For comparison:
DuS wa' (torpedo tube # 1)
wa' DuS (one torpedo tube)
Ordinal numbers, such as first, second, third, etc., are formed by
adding one of two suffixes to the base numbers. With one exception, the
suffix is the same for all dialects:
All dialects |
except | Kumburan
Kumburan |
_______________|_______________
|
-DIch | -DIgh
Ordinal numbers always follow the noun they are referring to. By adding
another suffix, the notion of repetitions can be expressed. Again, this
suffix is the same for all dialects save one:
All dialects |
except | Kumburan
Kumburan |
|
_______________|_______________
|
-loch | -tlhogh
These numbers function as adverbias, which are discussed later on in
this section.
CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are of two types: those that join nouns together and those
that join sentences together. The meanings of the two types of conjunctions,
however, are the same. The conjunctions listed below are the same for all
known dialects:
joining joining English
nouns sentences translation
____________________________________________________
je 'ej and
joq qoj and/or
ghap pagh either/or
These conjunctions that join nouns come after the final noun. Look at
the following examples:
DeS 'uS je (an arm and a leg)
DeS 'uS joq (an arm or a leg or both)
DeS 'uS ghap (either an arm or a leg, but not both)
nouns used
DeS (arm) 'uS (leg)
The noun conjunction, je, has an additional function: when it follows a
verb it has the same meaning as Galactic/English 'also' or 'too'.
For example:
qaleghpu' je (I saw you also)
or
(I saw you too)
This can be a bit ambiguous, so the exact meanings of such conjunction
phrases must be determined from the context of the rest of the sentence.
In addition to the three listed above, there is one other sentence
conjunction:
'ach but, nevertheless, however, so.
It should be noted that in the Daqawlu dialect it is often shortened to
'a, while in Klingonii/Klinzhaii dialect it is often substituted with 'agh
or, less often, 'aH.
As for the usage of sentence conjunctions, this is discussed in PART 7
in more detail.
ADVERBIALS
Adverbials usually come at the begenning of a sentence, and of course
describe the manner of the activity referred to by the verb of the sentence.
The following is a list of the known adverbials. While others obviously
exist, until they are made commonly availiable the student of Klingonaase
would be advised use noun-verb combinations to produce adverbials not listed
below. Of the following, only the Rumaiym dialectic adverbials are listed:
batlh (with honor, in an honored fashion)
bong (by accident, accidentally, not intentionally)
chaq (perhaps)
chIch (on purpose, puposely)
DaH (now)
Do' (with luck, luckily)
loQ (slightly, a little bit)
nom (fast, quickly)
not (never)
pay' (suddenly)
pIj (often)
QIt (slowly)
reH (always)
rut (sometimes)
tugh (soon)
vaj (thus, in that case, so, accordingly, then)
wej (not yet)
qub' (rarely)
As for examples of the use of the above adverbials:
bong yaS vIHoHpu' (I accidentally killed the officer)
(vIHoHpu' <I killed him/her>,
yaS <officer>)
vaj Daleghpu' (then you have seen it)
(Daleghpu' <you have seen it>)
There is one word that fits somewhat awkwardly in this category, as it
follows the verb which it modifies as opposed to preceeding it as the other
adverbials do.
neH only, merely, just.
ex: qama' vIqIppu' neH (I merely hit the prisoner)
from: qama' <prisoner>
vI- <I - him/her pronominal prefix>
qIp <to hit>
-pu' <perfective>
neH <merely>
Also, unlike the rest of the adverbials, neH can follow a noun. In such
cases, neH takes on the meaning 'only' or 'alone'.
ex: jonta' neH (only the engine)
vengDaq neH (only in the city,
in the city alone)
Adverbials sometimes occur alone, as if they functioned as exclamations.
For example:
nom (move fast! Move quickly!)
wej (Don't do it yet!)
tugh (hurry up!)
EXCLAMATIONS
In addition to those adverbials that can stand alone, there are expressions
that stand alone as sentences in their own right. These exclamations are
words that are, next to the so-called 'colorful metaphors', the most often
and most easily remembered by non-speakers. In fact, these words are the few
that manage to 'jump across the dialectic gaps' that exist between
Klingonaase dialects, so thse words will most likely be know by a native
speaker regardless of which dialect is being spoken.
However, while the majority of exclamations listed below are derived
from the Rumaiym dialect, there are some from the other dialects as well.
Note also that the aforementioned 'colorful metaphors' are dealt with
separately from the 'normal' exclamations.
Rumaiym
ghobe' (no! - response to a question)
Ha' (let's go! Come on!)
HiSlaH (yes! - response to a question)
luq (yes, okay, I will)
maj (good - expressing satisfaction>)
majQa' (very good, well done)
nuqneH (what do you want? <greeting>)
pItlh (Done! Finished!)
Qo' (No!, I won't! I refuse!)
SuH (ready!)
toH (well! so! - in guised astonishment or surprise)
wejpuH (Charming... - used ironically)
Klingonii/Klinzhaii
gho' (no! - response to a question)
rIst' (good, well - expressing satisfaction)
qaI' (shout of honor, honorific)
taI'tlhon (worthy opponent)
Sa'tel'ren (two out of three)
SuD' (ready!)
va'ng (acting! - positive response to an order)
teSQas (compliments, congratulations)
jIwa'bej' ('the one' - personal acknowledgement)
Daqawlu'
Su' (ready)
lu' (okay, yes, I will)
Hija' (yes! - response to a command)
tlheD' (leave!)
'laHwI' (worthy, of worth, valuable)
Kumburan/wIjngan
'eH (ready!)
tam' (quiet!)
toH' (well, so, aha! - mild surprise)
QaIbe' (shout of victory - '<you> have not won!')
All of the aforementioned exclamations are used interchangably where
there are cases of overlapping, such as in the Galactic/English words 'yes',
'yeah', 'yea', 'yo', 'yup' and 'uh-huh'.
EXPLETIVES
The following class of words contains various exclamations most commonly
referred to as expletives or 'colorful metaphors'. These words are
essentially the same as what are called profanities or 'cuss words' in
Galactic/English. It should be noted that although the use of these words is
quite commonplace in Klingonaase, in most other languages such words and
phrases are looked upon as crude and uncivilized. Appropriately enough, these
words often do not follow known rules of order for noun and verb structures,
and can actually use noun and verb parts that have completely different
meanings when used separately or in other sentences.
On that important note, the student of Klingonaase should keep in mind
that certain similar insults from those other language can actually translate
in to Klingonaase as a compliment of sorts! One notable and somewhat
'cleaner' example is the mid-20th century insult 'your mother's Army boots',
which most Klingons (especially the Daqawlu', who support a unisex military)
would take as high praise of one's linneage! Regardless of the language used,
these words should be used carefully, sparingly, and with appropriate taste.
Of course, Klingons naturally do not follow such guidelines.
Rumaiym
QI'yaH (Assume a military duty station - a low, menial
position is implied here, such as janitorial
duty.)
ghuy'cha' (second born - this insult takes on two different
relative meanings, depending on the dialect of the
object of the phrase. In Rumaiym, this implies
that the object is younger than his sister, a very
strong Rumaiym taboo since the first-born MUST be
a male. In Klingonii/Klinzhaii, this can mean that
either the object has no true lineage, or the
object's acting father, who's consort is the
object's mother, is not the object's real father.
In the Da-qawlu dialect, this can mean all of the
above, as well as stating that the object is of a
lesser race than the speaker.)
Qu'vatlh (literally, perform a hundred missions. As in
QI'yaH the inference is towards a duty station or
task that is considered meanial or below their
status. It is similar to the English insult/order
'drop and do a hundred push-ups'. In Kumburan,
wIjngan and Daqawlu dialects, this takes on quite
a different meaning, as it is primarily an insult
that is directed towards either a female object,
or towards the object's female parent. The
implication in that case is that the female is
one who 'sleeps around' with quite a number of
males. The common Galactic/English translation is
a prostitute or 'hooker'.)
yoH'Ha'qu' (Traditional phrase calling the object a coward. A
literal translation reads 'very unbrave'. This is
a traditional challenge between two Rumaiym
before a Blood Duel, but is considered a general
insult towards any Rumaiym when used by a speaker
of another dialect, which can also result in a
Blood Duel.)
Klingonii/Klinzhaii
Q'est (all-purpose expletive. This can be translated
into several phrases. For example, it can be
translated into the English expletive for
consummation of the sex act, as well as the
modification of that term to describe either a
major error on the behalf of a living object, or
a major malfunction on the part of a non-living
device.)
q'est'at (Variation of Q'est. Although this usually refers
to a device that is in a rapidly disintegrating
state of performance, when coupled with the words
Quv' <slave> or Quv'let'a' <sexually enslaved
servitor>, it can be used as an insult towards
the object's female parent. That insult takes the
forms Quv'q'est'at and Quv'let'est'at,
respectively.)
toQe'Human'Stra'v (willing slave of a sub-standard race. This is one
of the vilest insults a Klingon can say to
another Klingon. According to legend, the civil
war of General Kagga (whose crown was branded to
his head before hid execution) was sparked by
then-Emperor Kahar's issuance of this insult over
the General's failure to defeat the Federation
forces at the battle of Donatu-5. This, according
to many scholars of the '5-years' war' between
the two 'Empires' is what diverted enough of the
Klingons' attention to enable the Federation to
regain enough ground to force the Empire to
accept a negotiated truce.)
gh'Day't (a curse of damnation. This is another all-purpose
expletive, with the object referred to as being
damned. While this does not usually imply that a
deity is being invoked, in Rumaiym usage it does.
In such use, the name of the deity relaces the
letter t, and possesses the noun suffix -vo. In
reference to anything or anyone else, the t is
often kept, and the object of the curse follows
as a separate word. In Klingonii/Klinzhaii
dialect, the gh' is often pronounced as a rather
harsh 'guh' with heavy emphasis on the glottal
stop.)
NAMES
One of the most important points about the Klingon language is the
proper pronounciation of Klingon names. Non-speakers frequently mispronounce
the names of Klingons, and when translating into their respective writing
systems they usually end up with spellings that only suggest their true
pronounciations. A prime example is the Klingonaase sound tlh, which is
almost always transliterated into the Galactic/English sound Kl. Similarly,
Klingon Q is also always translated as Kr, and when occurring at the end of a
name, as English X. The Klingon q is always rendered as K. Thus, the
reason for the use of the transliterated forms of Klingon names (including,
of course, the word Klingon) is primarily to take advantage of the average
non-speaker's familiarity with this somewhat incorrect, yet common form of
rendering Klingon names.
Names may be used in direct address (that is, calling someone by name)
at the begenning or end of a sentence. Other words in direct address, such as
qaH <sir> or joHwI' <my lord> are used similarly.
ex: torgh HIghoS (Torg, come here!)
(HIghoS <proceed toward me!>)
One final aspect of Klingon names has only recently become fully under-
stood. This is the prefix structure of Klingon first names, so unlike the
name structure of most Human names, which consists of a second name to denote
the linneage of the bearer, and a first name to distinguish the bearer from
those who share the line name (whether it be through actual kinship, or
through sheer coincedence), and often a middle name used to honor one or more
particular persons associated with the line in one way or another.
Klingon names take on this structure instead: the first name is the
line-name from which the Klingon is either born from, has been assigned due
to lack of linneage (an orphan), or has freely chosen in order to start a new
line of his own (an extremely noble, yet often tragic act, as competition
between the lines is often quite violent). The last name is the name that
distinguishes the individual from others of the same line-name.
Unlike Human names, the middle name takes on a very important meaning in
Klingon names. It is used primarily as a honorific of sorts, denoting just
how much status the bearer has, and what amount of respect he/she should
recieve. a Klingon who has no honorific is either not yet an adult, is a
pariah, or is a 'no-rank' enlisted in one of the Armed Services branches.
Honorific meaning
taI' has done nothing notable, but has conducted
his/herself accordingly, and is deserving of
some respect
veStaI' same as above, yet having done at least one
notable act
SutaI' having done several notable acts. Most ship's
commanders or landing force leaders have this
honorific.
HSantaI' of extreme high honor in both personal
actions and of linneage.
epetaI' rarely used for anyone under Klingon
middle-age level, unless used as an insult
(calling someone an old man or an old fool).
Adding the suffix -HSana' to this honorific
produces one that is so outlandish that it is
ONLY used as an insult, and NEVER in jest.
As expected, the Daqawlu' do not use the honorifics, as they have
essentially been 'stripped' of them due to whatever act has made them
outcasts. Use of a Daqawlu' name with the honorific usually produces a
violent result from the name bearer, as well as from the person to whom the
speaker is conversing with (if the listener is not a Daqawlu', but is aware
of the person being discussed). Likewise, the omission of the honorific in
the case of a person from the Klingonii/Klinzhaii dialect can produce a
similar result. In every case, with the exception of the Daqawlu', it is
always correct to use the honorific when addressing a native speaker. A
Daqawlu', of course, can usually be detected by the lack of a honorific. Most
Klingons proudly state their honorifics when they introduce themselves,
almost as if it were a silent shout of victory.
However, regardless of the difference in name structure, the order in
which the name elements are written by native speakers is still the same as
for human names. For example:
Qenn SutaI'ruStaSH
Qenn --> second, distinguishing name
SutaI' --> honorific, middle name
ruStaSH --> first, line-name
<END OF FILE>
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