Klingon

Alphabet

Consonants pIqaD Romanized IPA Example b /bw/ bronchitis, gazebo; occasionally imbalance ch /tʃ/ chew, artichoke D /ɖ/ dream, android gh /ɣ/ gobble, but with the sound voiced H /x/ Bach', l'chaim, Tijuana, Baja California j /dʒ/ junk l /l/ lunge, alchemy m /m/ mud, pneumatic n /n/ nectarine, sunspot ng /ŋ/ furlong, but not engulf p /ph/ parallax, opprobrium, always with a strong puff/pop q /q/ kumquat, (not quagmire) Q /qh/ no good comparison, combined q and H r /r/ curd (Scottish) S /ʂ/ syringe, shuttlecock t /th/ tarpaulin, critique tlh /tɬ/ tetl (Aztec); Federation often renders it kl, hence, Klingon for tlhIngan v /v/ vulgar, demonstrative w /ʍ/ worrywart, cow, whine y /j/ yodel, joy ' /ʔ/ uh-oh, unh-unh (meaning no)

Vowels pIqaD Romanized IPA Example a /ɑ/ psalm e /ɛ/ sensor I /ɪ/ misfit, infrequently zucchini o /o/ mosaic u /u/ gnu, prune Diphthongs pIqaD Romanized IPA Example aw /aʊ/ cow ay /aɪ/ cry ew /ɛu/ combination of e and u ey /eɪ/ pay Iw /ɪu/ combination of I and u Iy /i/ key oy /ɔɪ/ toy uy /ui/ gooey

Nouns

• Simple Nouns: A word representing a concept.
• Compound Nouns: Two or more words representing a concept, smashed together (e.g. jolpa' - transporter room: jol - transporter beam, pa' - room).
• Actor Nouns: The suffix -wI' is equivalent to -er in English, indicating that it's someone that does something (e.g. baHwI' -one who fires weapons: baH - to fire (a torpedo)).

Nouns may also receive suffixes. One of each type (except in the case of roving suffixes) can be appended as needed.

Type	Suffix	Use
1, Scale	-'a'	Augments the noun (e.g. lord vs. overlord)
1, Scale	-Hom	Diminishes the noun (e.g. breeze vs. mild breeze)
2, Number	-pu'	Plural for language-capable beings (e.g. human vs. humans, man vs. men)
2, Number	-Du'	Plural for body parts (e.g. foot vs. feet)
2, Number	-mey	General plural (e.g. colony vs. colonies). May be applied to language-capable beings, but implies a scattering (i.e. children vs. children all over the place)
3, Qualification	-qoq	So-called, supposed
3, Qualification	-Hey	Apparent
3, Qualification	-na'	Definite
4, Possessive	See table for pronoun-derived suffixes
4, Possessive	-vam	This, these
4, Posessive	-vetlh	That, those
5, Syntactic	-Daq	Indicates something is happening in the vicinity of the attached noun (e.g. dogs chase cats around canaries; I'm in the room; go to the room)
5, Syntactic	-vo'	Away from the attached noun (e.g. Leave the room)
5, Syntactic	-mo'	Due to, because of
5, Syntactic	-vaD	For, intended for
5, Syntactic	-'e'	Attached to the subject of a relative clause, or emphasizes the noun in the phrase. (e.g. "I, and only I, have failed" vs. "I have failed"; "It was the information, and not something else, that I needed" vs. "I needed to get the information")

Possessive Pronoun Suffixes

Noun Type	My	Your (s)	His/Her/Its	Our	Your (pl)	Their
General	-wiJ	-lIj	-Daj	-maj	-raj	-chaj
Language-capable	-wI'	-lI		-ma'	-ra'

Noun-Noun Construction (Possession)

Two nouns in sequence imply N2 of the N1, or N1's N2. The second noun is the only one of the two that can take Syntactic suffixes, but the other four types are valid for both.

Examples

Word	Translation	Components
		K	#	E
QaghHommeyHeylIjmo'	due to your apparent minor errors	Qagh	n	error
		Hom	1	minor
		mey	2	plural
		Hey	3	apparent
		lIj	4	your
		mo'	5	due to
pa'wIjDaq	in my quarters	pa'	n	quarters
		wIJ	4	my
		Daq	5	in
Duypu'qoqchaj	their so-called emissaries	Duy	n	emissary
		pu'	2	plural
		qoq	3	so-called
		chaj	4	their
qamDu'wIjDaq	at my feet	qam	n	foot
		Du'	2	plural
		wIj	4	my
		Daq	5	at
rojHom'e'	the truce (as topic)	roj	n	treaty
		Hom	1	minor (truce)
		'e'	5	topic emphasis
DIvI'may'DujmeyDaq	at/to the Federation battlecruisers	DIvI'may'Duj	n	Federation battlecruiser
		mey	2	plural
		Daq	5	at
baHwI'pu'vam	these gunners	bahwI'	n	gunner
		pu'	2	plural
		vam	4	this/these
nuHvam pegh	secret of this weapon	nuH	n	weapon
		vam	4	this
		pegh	n	secret

Verbs

Prefixes

Klingon verbs are always expressed in indicative or imperative mood, with other moods inferred from adverbs or other contextual clues.

Indicative Mood
Subject	Object
	None	1st Singular	2nd Singular	3rd Singular	1st Plural	2nd Plural	3rd Plural
1st Singular	jI-		qa-	vI-		Sa-	vI-
2nd Singular	bI-	cho-		Da-	ju-	Da-
3rd Singular		mu-	Du-		nu-	lI-
1st Plural	ma-		pI-	wI-		re-	Di-
2nd Plural	Su-	tu-		bo-	che-		bo-
3rd Plural		mu-	nI-	lu-	nu-	li-
Undefined		vI-	Da-		wI-	bo-	lu-
Indicative Mood
2nd Singular	yI-	HI-		yI-	gho-		tI-
2nd Plural	pe-

Suffixes

Type	Suffix	Use/Example
1, Reflexive	-egh	Action done by subject to self. (Not used on intransitive verbs.)
1, Reflexive	-chuq	Action done by individual subjects to each other. (Not used on intransitive verbs.)
2, Volition	-neS	Subject is required to complete the action
2, Volition	-qang	Subject is willing to perform the action
2, Volition	-rup	Subject is prepared to complete the action
2, Volition	-beH	Subject has been set up to complete the action
2, Volition	-vIp	Subject is afraid to do the action
3, Temporal	-choH	Verb is happening now, but was not happening before; has changed state.
3, Temporal	-qa'	Verb was stopped and is now resuming; action is happening again.
4, Causative	-moH	Changes the subject into a causer for intransitive verbs. (e.g. The person opened the door - lojmIt poSmoH ghot)
4, Causative	-moH	Changes the subject to the indirect object (takes the Type 5 Noun Suffix -vaD). (e.g. I made him blame you - ghaHvaD qapIchmoH)
5, Situational	-lu'	Undefined subject. For third person singular objects, this changes verb prefixes to first or second person objects.
5, Situational	-laH	Object is capable of performing the verb.
6, Qualitative	-chu'	The action is done in the best possible manner.
6, Qualitative	-bej	The speaker is sure the action is occurring.
6, Qualitative	-law'	The speaker thinks the action is occurring, but isn't sure.
6, Qualitative	-ba'	The speaker thinks the action is occurring, but is not completely sure.
7, State	-pu'	The action is completed.
7, State	-ta'	The action is completed, and was done on purpose.
7, State	-taH	The action is occurring continuously.
7, State	-lI'	The action is occurring continuously and has a known end point.
8, Honorific	-neS	Used when addressing someone highly regarded or organizationally superior (military, political, social).
9, Syntactic	-wI'	Creates an agent noun (see above).
9, Syntactic	-ghach	Creates a noun representing the action or quality of the verb.
9, Syntactic	-'a'	Forms yes or no questions.
9, Syntactic	-jaj	Indicates a wish or desire of the speaker.
9, Syntactic	-bogh	Used in relative clauses.
9, Syntactic	-meH	Used in purpose clauses.
9, Syntactic	-pa'	Used to indicate the main clause occurs before this clause.
9, Syntactic	-vIS	Used to indicate the main clause occurs during or contemporaneous with this clause. Always used with Type 7 suffix -taH.
9, Syntactic	-DI'	Used to indicate the main clause occurs immediately after this clause.
9, Syntactic	-chugh	Forms conditionals.
9, Syntactic	-mo'	Used to indicate that the main clause is occurring because of this clause.
10, Roving	-be'	Negates what precedes it. Cannot be used in the imperative mood.
10, Roving	-Qo'	Negates what precedes it in the imperative mood, or indicates refusal by the subject in the indicative mood.
10, Roving	-qu'	Emphasizes what precdes it.
10, Roving	-Ha'	Indicates the opposite of what precedes it is being done, or the action is being undone. Can be used to indicate an action is being performed improperly. Must be placed after the stem.

External Links & Tools

• Java-based translator and dictionary
• Wikipedia: Klingon Grammar
• Wikiversity: Klingon