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************************************************************* * 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>