This is a brief introduction primer for the Klingon language. Although this is not a completely exhaustive lesson, this introduction will present an overview of the basic fundamental structure and usage of the language for anyone interested in pursuing the study of "the fastest growing language in the galaxy", the "Warrior's Tongue",
RESOURCES
The first best thing to do for learning and exploring the Klingon language in a serious manner is to get yourself copies of the reference materials written and published by Marc Okrand, creator of the official Klingon language,
tlhIngan Hol.
BOOKS
The Klingon Dictonary (TKD)
The Klingon Way: A Warrior's Guide (TKW)
Klingon for the Galactic Traveler (KGT)
AUDIO
Conversational Klingon (CK)
Power Klingon (PK)
SOFTWARE
EuroTalk Learn Klingon (
Link for US purchase)
Online resources for information on the Klingon language include:
Klingon Language Institute (KLI)
http://www.kli.org
Hol 'ampaS
http://hol.kag.org
Klingonska Akademien
http://klingonska.org
ter'eS Klingon Pages
http://teresh.tdonnelly.org
Having these materials on hand, and accessing some or all of these sites will make learning (and retaining) the vocabulary, rules, and grammar much easier. It would be impossible to include everything covered in those books and resources in this post, but what follows will be a general overview of the basics, to get you started and whet your appetite for a more detailed study of the language if you choose to pursue it.
The Klingon Language is somewhat like chess: easy to pick up the basics, but to master it takes years.
Okay, Let's get started.
One thing to remember from the beginning is that the "Klingon language" is the predominant language spoken and written by Klingons from
Qo'noS. The language differs from Federation Standard (English) because Klingons developed their languages a long time ago, and developed their own native writing system, which is called
pIqaD -- the symbols and glyphs seen on Klingon computer screens, ship hulls, tapestries and wall signage, etc. (
pIqaD will be discussed in detail in a later post.)
Non-Klingon readers and computers are often unable to read and display the Klingons' native writing system, so, under the auspices of the Federation Scientific Research Council, Terran linguistic professor Dr. Marc Okrand, Ph.D., aided by Maltz, devised a transcription system known as
tlhIngan Hol based on the Federation Standard (English) alphabet that allows non-Klingons to learn the Klingon language -- similar to using the English alphabet to write the Japanese "domo arigato" rather then the original
Japanese writing system.
ALPHABET
The Klingon alphabet in
pIqaD is:
Using Okrand's transcription system, the
tlhIngan Hol alphabet is 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 '
The Klingon alphabet differs from the English alphabet in a few ways.
Firstly, the Klingon alphabet is case-sensitive, meaning some letters are always capital (like
D,
H,
I, and
S), and some letters are always lower-case (most of the rest) -- and there appears to be one that is both (the
q and
Q). The
q (16th letter) and the
Q (17th letter) are separate letters in Klingon, they have separate glyphs in the
pIqaD, and have (similar but) unique sounds or pronunciations associated with them.
Secondly, some of the individual Klingon
pIqaD letters are represented by a combination of two or more English letters. For example, the third letter of the Klingon
pIqaD alphabet is represented by
ch. The sixth Klingon letter is represented by
gh. These are treated as a single letter in
tlhIngan Hol, and these two always appear in these combinations. (You won't see a single
c by itself, only in the combination
ch, and you won't see a single
g by itself, only in
gh and
ng.) However, just like the
q and
Q are separate letters, the
n and
ng, and
t and
tlh are all separate letters with unique glyphs and sounds associated with them.
Also, the last letter of the Klingon language is represented by the apostrophe, but in Klingon this is actually a consonant letter, not punctuation -- and represents a glottal stop. A glottal stop is a quick catch in the back of the throat, a cut-off of sound and air, such as the abrupt cut-off between the two syllables of the English "uh-oh" (represented by the hyphen in "uh-oh").
Another difference from English, is that the individual letters in Klingon have only one way to pronounce them (which I'm told is similar to Japanese and Spanish), unlike English which has three ways to pronounce an "
a" (apple, ache, abrupt).
For example, here's a look at the pronunciation of the Klingon vowels:
In Klingon, the vowels are
a,
e,
I,
o,
u (but never
y)
a as in "ah" or psalm
e as in "eh" or sensor
I as the i in misfit, or sick
o as in mosaic, or oh no
u as in "ooh" or prune (never as "but", or "cute" which would be something like "e-yoo")
These vowels can be altered when followed by either
w or
y...
aw rhymes with ow as in cow
ay rhymes with y as in cry
ey rhymes with ay as in pay
Iy rhymes with ey as in key
oy rhymes with oy as in toy
uy rhymes with ooey as in gooey
ew is basically the Klingon e and u ran together quickly, eh-ooh
Iw is basically the Klingon I and u ran together
(no Klingon words use ow or uw)
For further information on pronunciation of the Klingon consonants, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary, section 1.1.
Now that we've looked at the Klingon alphabet, we can assemble the letters together to form words. In the next section, let's look at the basic types of words and how they are formed in the Klingon language,
tlhIngan Hol.
TYPES OF WORDS
Okay, we looked at the Klingon alphabet. Now let's look at the types of words we can create using those Klingon letters.
In
tlhIngan Hol, there are three main categories of words: nouns, verbs, and "everything else". (We'll talk about the "everything else" kind later.)
NOUNS
Like English nouns, Klingon nouns identify a person, place or thing. They can be a common noun (such as knife, starship, etc.) or proper nouns (such as the name of a person).
Examples of Klingon nouns:
ghopDap =
asteroid (noun, thing)
chom =
bartender (noun, person)
jagh =
enemy (noun, person)
veng =
city (noun, location)
puchpa' =
restroom (noun, location)
qeylIS =
Kahless (proper noun, name of a person)
janluq pIqarD =
Jean-Luc Picard (proper noun, name of a person)
VERBS
Klingon verbs describe an action. Klingon verbs can also describe condition, quality, or state of being -- ideas that would take the form of adjectives in English.
Examples of simple Klingon verbs:
HoH =
kill
DuQ =
stab
tlha' =
follow, chase
ghaj =
have, possess
qel =
consider, take into account
yaj =
understand
Verbs describing a quality or state:
Doy' =
tired, be tired
chu' =
new, be new
val =
smart,
be smart,
clever,
be clever
HoS =
strong,
be strong
Notice that the states and qualities normally described by adjectives in English become verbs in Klingon, and are usually translated using "be", "am", and "are".
jIHoS =
I am strong (
jI- "
I <verb>",
HoS "
be strong")
maHoS =
We are strong (
ma- "
We <verb>",
HoS "
be strong")
AFFIXES
A major difference between English and Klingon, is that the Klingon nouns and verbs are heavily modified and expanded upon by using multiple suffixes, and Klingon verbs also can take on prefixes.
NOUN SUFFIXES
In Klingon, there are 5 types of Noun Suffixes. Each type has a few related suffixes, but only one suffix of a particular type can be used on a single noun -- meaning that a single noun can have a Type 1 suffix and a Type 2 suffix, but that noun cannot have two Type 2 suffixes at the same time. For nouns, the suffix order is like this:
NOUN-1-2-3-4-5
A noun can have up to all 5 types but does not need to, so you could have a noun with only two or three suffixes, such as NOUN-2-3-5, or NOUN-1-5, etc.
Here's an example of a noun with multiple suffixes to modify the meaning of the root noun:
juH'a'wIjDaq =
at/to my large home
juH-'a'-wIj-Daq
juH =
home (n)
-'a' =
big,
large, [Type 1: Augmentative]
-wIj =
my (incapable of language) [Type 4: Possessive]
-Daq =
at,
to [Type 5: Locative]
jaghHeylI' =
your apparent enemy
jagh-Hey-lI'
jagh =
enemy (n)
-Hey =
apparent [Type 3: Qualification]
-lI' =
your (being capable of language) [Type 4: Possessive]
If the noun were not a being capable of language, the Type 4 Possessive suffix
-lIj your (incapable of language) would be used, as in
HoSHeylIj your apparent strength. [
HoS =
strength (n)]
One of the often used types of noun suffixes is the Type 2 suffixes, used for indicating pluralization. The three Type 2 suffixes are:
-pu' = plural for beings capable of language
-Du' = plural for body parts of beings capable of language and animals
-mey = plural for general use (also carries the "scattered all about" meaning when used on a noun for beings capable of language)
tlhIngan =
Klingon (or)
Klingons
tlhInganpu' =
Klingons
'uS =
leg (or)
legs
'uSDu' =
legs
qam =
foot (or)
feet
qamDu' =
feet
puq =
child
puqpu' =
children
puqmey =
children all over the place
It should be noted that it is not always necessary to include a pluralization suffix. Klingon nouns without a Type 2 suffix can still carry the meaning of more than one of that noun. The Type 2 pluralization suffixes are used for clarity and accuracy when a plural meaning is intended (and rules out the possiblity of a singular meaning).
Reference: For more information about Noun Suffixes, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary section 3.3.
VERB PREFIX AND SUFFIX
Like the Klingon nouns, the Klingons verbs can be modified by using the set of various verb suffixes, and a verb prefix. There are 9 Types of verb suffixes. Only one verb prefix is used at a time because the verb prefixes indicate who or what is performing the action described by the verb and, where relevant, who or what is the recipient of that action -- e.g. who or what is doing the action, and who or what the action is being done to/for. Verb prefixes can also indicate an imperative, and are used on a verb to issue a command. The verb prefix and suffix order is like this:
PREFIX-VERB-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Here's an example:
vIHoHbejta'
I have certainly killed him.
vI-HoH-bej-ta'
vI- =
I <verb> him/her/it/them [Prefix]
HoH =
kill [verb]
-bej =
certainly,
undoubtedly [Type 6: Qualification]
-ta' =
accomplished [Type 7: Aspect]
vIHoH means "
I kill him/her/it/them". Adding the suffix
-ta' gives the meaning that the killing is accomplished, it is done intentionally -- I set out to do it, and I did it. (If it had been an accident, or the opportunity just arose so I took it, then we would use the perfective suffix
-pu' instead of
-ta'.) [The perfective verb suffix
-pu' will be discussed in more detail in a later post.]
Including the suffix
-bej "
certainly,
undoubtedly" adds the meaning that it is certain, there is no doubt about it, I killed him/her/it/them. If the killing were uncertain, we would use the suffix
-law' ("
apparently"), to form
vIHoHlaw' ("
I apparently killed him").
As stated earlier, verb prefixes do two things: 1) indicate who or what is performing the action described by the verb, and 2) indicate who or what is the recipient of that action. Changing the prefix on the verb can completely change the meaning being conveyed. Here are some examples using the verb
legh "
see".
jIlegh =
I see (meaning, "
I perceive visually", not "
I understand" which would be
jIyaj)
vIlegh =
I see him/her/it/them (
vI- "
I <verb> him/her/it/them")
Dalegh =
you see him/her/it/them (
Da- "
You <verb> him/her/it/them")
qalegh =
I see you (
qa- "
I <verb> you")
cholegh =
You see me. (
cho- "
You <verb> me")
nulegh =
They see us. (
nu- "
They <verb> us")
A special set of Verb Prefixes are used for imperatives, to issue a command or an order. Commands can only be issued to
you or
you (plural), in the from of "
you go away!" or "
you (plural) come here!"
Soj Daje' =
You buy the food.
Soj yIje' =
Buy the food! /
(You) Buy the food! (as command)
yI- =
You <verb> /
You <verb> him/her/it (as command)
romuluSnganpu' boHoH =
You(plural) kill Romulans.
romuluSnganpu' tIHoH =
Kill Romulans! /
You(plural) kill the Romulans! (as command)
tI- =
You <verb> them /
You(plural) <verb> them (as command)
(The second phrase might be translated as "
Y'all kill the Romulans!" in certain regions of Earth.)
Reference: For more information about Verb Prefixes and Verb Suffixes, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary sections 4.1 and 4.2.
That's a brief look at Klingon nouns and verbs and how they are modified by their affixes. Next, we'll briefly look at the "Other Kinds of Words" and see how they are used, then it's on to sentences!
OTHER KINDS OF WORDS
The "Other Kinds of Words" (that aren't nouns or verbs) include pronouns, numbers, conjunctions, adverbs, and exclamations.
PRONOUNS
There are 10 pronouns in the Klingon language.
bIH =
they,
them (things incapable of language)
chaH =
they,
them (beings capable of language)
ghaH =
he,
she,
him,
her
jIH =
I,
me
maH =
we,
us
SoH =
you (singular)
tlhIH =
you (plural)
'oH =
it
(The remaining two pronouns,
'e' and
net, will be discussed later.)
Notice that the pronoun
ghaH is gender-neutral, and can be translated either "
he/him" or "
she/her" depending on the context in which it is used.
When pronouns are used as the Subject of a phrase or sentence, they take on the additional meaning of "am" and "are", as in
jIH "
I am",
SoH "
you are", etc. This will be touched on in a later section regarding sentence structure.
For more information on pronouns, refer to section 5.1 in
The Klingon Dictionary.
CONJUNCTIONS
These words are used to join nouns or sentences together.
Joining Nouns
je =
and
joq =
and/or
ghap =
either/or
The conjunction words for joining nouns come at the end of the nouns being joined.
tera'ngan tlhIngan je =
Terran and Klingon
tera'ngan tlhIngan joq =
Terran and/or Klingon
tera'ngan tlhIngan ghap =
either Terran or Klingon (not both)
Joining Sentences
'ej =
and
qoj =
and/or
pagh =
either/or
Conjunctions joining sentences will be discussed further in a later section regarding sentence structure.
For more information on the use of conjunctions, refer to section 5.3 in
The Klingon Dictionary.
ADVERBS
Adverbs will be discussed in the next section regarding sentences. For further information on adverbials, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary section 5.4, and the TKD Addendum section 6.7.
NUMBERS
The Klingon numbers from 0 to 9 are:
0 =
pagh
1 =
wa'
2 =
cha'
3 =
wej
4 =
loS
5 =
vagh
6 =
jav
7 =
Soch
8 =
chorgh
9 =
Hut
To make higher numbers, we use number-forming elements for the larger amounts, such as the 10s, 100s, 1000s, etc.
To form the number 10, we use the number forming element for
10s,
-maH, and combine that with how many 10s we want to indicate.
For 10, we combine
wa' one and
-maH tens, to form
wa'maH ten (
10). For 20, we combine
cha' two and
-maH tens to form
cha'maH twenty (
20) (basically, "two 10s"). For numbers above 20, but below 30, we would include the single-digit number after the "tens", so 21 would be
cha'maH wa' twenty one (
21).
If we continued counting it would appear as follows:
22 =
cha'maH cha'
23 =
cha'maH wej
...
29 =
cha'maH Hut
30 =
wejmaH
31 =
wejmaH wa'
and so on.
The higher number forming elements are:
-vatlh =
hundred(s)
-SaD =
thousand(s)
-netlh =
ten thousand(s)
-bIp =
hundred thousand(s)
-'uy' =
million(s)
vaghSaD wejvatlh loSmaH Soch =
5,347
For more information on numbers, and counting, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary section 5.2.
EXCLAMATIONS
These are usually one-word phrases that stand alone, and are usually said in excitement, duress, or relief, although they could also be a response to a question or request.
Some common, often used Klingon exclamations include:
ghobe' =
No. (answer to yes/no question)
HIja' or
HISlaH =
Yes. (answer to yes/no question)
Ha' =
Let's go! Come on!
pItlh =
Done! I'm finished!
maj =
Good! (expressing satisfaction)
majQa' =
Good Job! Well done!
luq or
lu' =
Okay. I will.
toH =
Well! So! Ah-ha!
nuqneH =
What do you want? (greeting)
The Klingon "greeting"
nuqneH is different from the English "Hello". The Klingon
nuqneH is only said in response to someone approaching you. If I were to walk up to Worf, it would be Worf who would say
nuqneH to me -- it would be inappropriate, or just a mis-use, if I walk over to Worf and say
nuqneH to Worf. This is not always or necessarily considered rude, it could be akin to the English slang greeting "What's up?". The tone in which it is spoken conveys whether it is friendly or unfriendly.
The next section will be a big one, and the last of the overview, which will focus on the Klingon sentence structure, and basic grammar and syntax. If you have stuck around this long, get ready for the main course! If you have been skimming and skipping head, it's almost over. LOL
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
In English, the sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object. The Subject is the person or thing that performs the action described by the Verb, the Verb indicates the action or state performed by the Subject, and the Object is the person or thing that is the recipient or beneficiary of the verb (if appropriate). In the English sentence "
the child steals the chocolate", the Subject is "
the child", the Verb is "
steals" and the Object is "
the chocolate".
In the Klingon language, the sentence structure is reversed:
Object-Verb-Subject
(O-V-S)
If we drafted the same sentence using the Klingon sentence structure, the Subject is still "
the child", and the Object is still "
the chocolate", but the ordering is reversed:
yuch nIH puq
yuch =
chocolate (object)
nIH =
steal (verb)
puq =
child (subject)
yuch nIH puq would still be read in English and translated as "
the child steals the chocolate".
If we used the English sentence order and simply replaced the English words with the Klingon words, the sentence would not make sense.
Child | steals | chocolate
puq |
nIH |
yuch
puq nIH yuch =
The chocolate steals the child. (Uh, what?)
ADVERBIALS
Now that we have established the O-V-S sentence structure, we can go back to the adverbs and see how they are used in sentences.
Adverbs often come at the beginning of a sentence, but what is really happening is the adverb comes before the O-V-S structure.
yuch nIH puq
The child steals the chocolate.
nom yuch nIH puq
The child steals the chocolate quickly.
In the second sentence, we add the adverb
nom fast, quickly, which describes the manner in which the verb,
nIH steal, is performed.
It is possible for another word to come before the {adverb-O-V-S} structure, most commonly this would be a time element.
DaHjaj nom yuch nIH puq
The child steals the chocolate quickly today.
DaHjaj =
today
povam nom yuch nIH puq
The child steals the chocolate quickly this morning.
povam =
this morning (
po morning [noun], plus
-vam this [Type 4 noun suffix])
Here is a brief list of just a few of the Klingon adverbs:
batlh with honor,
in an honored fashion
bong accidentally,
not intentionally
ghaytan likely
nIteb alone,
acting alone,
on one's own
pe'vIl forcefully
SIbI' immediately
For more information about Klingon adverbs, refer to Sections 5.4 in
The Klingon Dictionary and the TKD Addendum.
PRONOUNS
Pronouns can be used as the Subject in the O-V-S structure, but this is not always necessary.
puq vIlegh jIH
puq =
child
vIlegh =
I see him/her/it/them
vI- =
I <verb> him/her/it/them [verb prefix]
legh =
see [verb]
jIH =
I, me [pronoun]
puq vIlegh jIH and
puq vIlegh are equivalent, both are "
I see the child".
The pronouns can also be used as the Object, such as:
chaH vIlegh =
I see them (beings capable of language)
bIH vIlegh =
I see them (things incapable of language)
ghaH vIlegh =
I see him/her/it/them
SoH qalegh =
I see you (here the "you" is singluar)
It is not always necessary to include a pronoun as object in simple sentences.
SoH qalegh and
qalegh are equivalent and proper, both meaning "
I see you."
Pronouns used as Objects can also take on noun suffixes.
SoHvaD yuch vIje' =
I purchase chocolate for you.
SoHvaD =
for you (
SoH you, plus
-vaD for, intended for)
yuch =
chocolate
vIje' =
I purchase it
There are two special pronouns, that refer to an entire sentence as an object:
'e' and
net.
Starting with the sentence,
yuch nIH puq "
the child steals chocolate", we can refer to this entire sentence as an object using
'e' which would be translated as "
that" (with "
that" being the previous sentence).
yuch nIH puq 'e' vISov
I know that the child steals chocolate.
yuch nIH puq =
the child steals chocolate
'e' vISov =
I know that (the "
that" in this case being the sentence "
the child steals chocolate")
This could be said by a single individual, saying something like
yuch nIH puq 'e' vISov, 'ach jISaHbe', "
I know that the child steals the chocolate, but I don't care."
This could also be used to refer to something someone else has just said:
Klingon1:
yuch nIHta' puq.
The child stole the chocolate.
Klingon2:
'e' vISov.
wa'leS vIHoH.
I know that. I will kill him/her tomorrow.
When the Subject is intended to be a general "one", or "someone" (instead of he, she, it or they) then
net is used in the same way as
'e'.
yuch nIH puq net Sov
One knows that the child steals chocolate.
(or)
Someone knows that the child steals chocolate.
For more information on sentences as objects, refer to
The Klingon Dictionary section 6.2.5.
CONJUNCTIONS
There are four conjunctions for joining sentences, in order to make longer more complex sentences known as compound sentences.
'ej =
and
'ach =
but
qoj =
and/or
pagh =
either/or
We can use these to join the following two sentences in various ways, by placing the conjunction between the two sentences (which combines the two sentences into a single compound sentence).
Sentence 1:
jISoptaH =
I am eating
Sentence 2:
QongtaH =
He/she is sleeping
jISoptaH 'ej QongtaH
I am eating and he/she is sleeping.
jISoptaH 'ach QongtaH
I am eating but he/she is sleeping.
Sentence 1:
bISoptaH =
You are eating
Sentence 2:
bItlhutlhtaH =
You are drinking
bISoptaH qoj bItlhutlhtaH
You are eating and/or you are drinking.
bISoptaH pagh bItlhutlhtaH
You are either eating, or else you are drinking.
For more information on Complex Sentences, refer to section 6.2 in
The Klingon Dictionary.
Well, that's the end of this "brief" (or not-so-brief) overview introduction to the Klingon language,
tlhIngan Hol. If you are not totally understanding all of it 100%, don't worry -- it can take lots of reading and re-reading, and asking questions, in order to understand and really grasp Klingon. Hopefully my writing did not contribute to any confusion.
The more time and effort you put into the Klingon language, the more you will get back from it. While this may be the end of this brief introduction, it really is only the beginning of a journey into linguistic exploration, should you choose to embark upon it.
If you merely want to have a few signature words and phrases translated and leave it at that, that's cool too. The important part is that you enjoy the Klingon language, and have fun with it -- however that manifests for you.
I will close this introduction with the motto of the
Klingon Language Institute:
qo'mey poSmoH Hol.
Language opens worlds.
On December 27th, 2011, during my Internet radio show, the Warriors' Den, on TrekRadio.net, I was honored and privileged to be joined by Lawrence M. Schoen, Ph.D., founder and director of the Klingon Language Institute, HUGO-award nominated author, and Chief Editor of Paper Golem small press publishing.
