The Quick ‘n Dirty Guide to Klingon Grammar

I'll assume you have access to a list of Klingon words, prefixes and suffixes.  I'll also assume you understand some basic grammar terms (eg, subject, adjective, pronoun) (If you don't, check here, here, here and here). This guide just scratches the surface of Klingon grammar, and won't even teach how to write full sentences, but it should help people avoid the most common simple errors.

1.  The capital and lower-case letters of Klingon are important parts of the spelling. Don't begin sentences or names with capitals unless the word is already spelled that way.  Don't change capitals to lower-case in words that have them.
2. The apostrophe ' is a real letter in tlhIngan Hol and is a glottal stop (like the catch in your voice when you say "uh-oh".)  It should not be added to words that don't contain it, or moved around in or taken out from words that do. (A tip for pronouncing it at the end of words: say the word as if it ended in "t", and then make the "t"-sound progressively shorter until only the stoppage of air in your throat remains.)
3. Several words in Klingon are spelled alike, but have completely different meanings, eg. Quch "forehead/be happy"; Hurgh  "pickle/be dark".  How you use such words depends on which meaning you are intending.
   
   
4. Titles (eg. HoD "Captain") and general designations (eg. Duj "ship") come after the proper name: ter'eS HoD "Captain Teresh", 'enterpray' ejDo' "Starship Enterprise". (ejDo' "starship")
   
   
5. Names are given as X, Y puqloD/puqbe', Z tuq, or "X, son/daughter of Y, of the House of Z". (puqloD "son"; puqbe' "daughter"; tuq "familial House")  (Names and titles in the KAG and other Khemorex Klinzhai organizations are not based on tlhIngan Hol and may follow different rules.) X 'oH pongwIj'e' = "My name is X". (pong "name"; 'oH "it"; -wIj "my"; -'e' grammatical suffix)
   
   
6. Plural nouns that refer to things take the noun suffix -mey, ex. Dujmey "ships."  Plural nouns that refer to people usually take the noun suffix -pu', ex. loDpu' "men".  An exception to this: using -mey with people gives the idea of "multiple people scattered around", ex. loDmey "men all over the place".  The other plural suffix -Du' is used for body parts, when still attached to the body. ex Ho'Du' "teeth".  Using -mey with these nouns also gives the "scattered around" idea: Ho'mey "teeth all over the place". (Ho' "tooth")
7. In the Noun1 Noun2 construction, Noun1 restricts or modifies the meaning of Noun2. It is used for
   1. ownership or possession: yaS taj "the officer's knife/the knife of the officer" (yaS "officer"; taj "knife"); meaning, “out of all possible knives, the one belonging/restricted to the officer.”
   2. like an adjective to show origin (romuluS HIq "Romulan ale") or composition (peQ chem "magnetic field"; Hurgh Hap  "pickle material"). (romuluS "Romulus"; HIq "ale"; peQ "magnetism"; chem "field (in physics)"; Hap "matter")
   3. You can make lots of combinations using N1-N2 and adjective groupings, but it is considered bad form to connect them without spaces, as if they are official words.  Leave spaces between the words to show they are your own constructions: quv Dun 'etlh "Glorious Honor Sword", not quvDun'etlh. (quv "personal honor"; Dun "be great, be wonderful"; 'etlh "sword")
      
      
8. Klingon adjectives when used as a quality of a thing follow the thing: Hap Hurgh "dark material"; may' Dun "wonderful battle", jup chu' "new friend". (may' "battle"; jup "friend"; chu' "be new")
   
   
9. When Klingon adjectives are used to describe a thing, they act as verbs, and come before the thing: Dun may' "The battle is wonderful"; HoS HIq "The ale is strong." (HoS "be strong")
   
   
10. When an adjective is used as a verb to describe a thing or another person, no verb prefix is added, as above.  However, when you are using it to describe yourself or someone you are talking to, a verb prefix is needed, eg: jI- "I", bI- "you", ma- "we", ex. jIghung "I am hungry."; bIlugh "You are right." (ghung "be hungry"; lugh "be correct")
    
    
11. The basic sentence order is OBJECT-VERB-SUBJECT. The nouns in the last two rules are acting as subjects of the verb. Other nouns, sometimes called adverbials, that show location, beneficiary (indirect object), cause, time, etc. come before the Object.
    
    
12. Action (non-adjective) verbs that don't have objects can use the same verb prefixes as the adjective verbs.  When the subject is 3rd person (he, she, it, they), usually no verb prefix is needed: jInep "I'm lying"; bI'Ij "you listen"; ghoS "He's going". (nep "to lie"; 'Ij "to listen"; ghoS "to come, go, approach")
    
    
13. Action verbs that have objects use the set of verb prefixes that indicate subject and object together, eg vI- "I (subj) – 3rd person (object)", ex. Duj vIlegh "I see a ship.", vIlegh "I see it".  For most verbs with a 3rd person subject and object, there is no prefix on the verb: Duj legh yaS "The officer sees the ship.", HoD HoH "He kills the captain." (legh "to see"; HoH "to kill")
    
    
14. Verb suffixes can be added to any verb (or adjective or pronoun used like a verb) to alter its meaning:
    1. –'a' to ask a question: bIghung'a' "Are you hungry?"; tlhIngan SoH'a' "Are you a Klingon?"
    2. –be' to negate the verb: jIghungbe' "I am not hungry."; Duj 'oHbe' "It is not a ship."
    3. –qu' to intensify the verb: jIghungqu' "I am very hungry"
    4. These suffixes can also be combined: bIghungqu'be''a'? "Are you not very hungry?"
15. The noun suffix -wI' can be added to most verbs to mean "the one who" or "the thing which", ex. yot "to invade" > yotwI' "invader"; Qaw' "to destroy" > Qaw'wI' "destroyer"; mob "be alone" > mobwI' "one who is alone".  This makes the verb into a noun, which is used like any other noun.
16. You can use action verbs to describe nouns by adding the verb suffix -bogh to the action verb.  Although it acts like an adjective, the suffixed verb is still a verb, and the noun it describes is its subject, so it comes after the verb, ex. Suv loD "the man fights" > Suvbogh loD "the man who fights/the fighting man".  You can add the verb suffixes noted above to these verb forms, ex. Suvbe'bogh loD "the man who does not fight". (Suv "to fight"; loD "man")
17. The Klingon independent pronouns, such as jIH "I", SoH "you", maH "we", etc. are used differently and less often than English pronouns.
    1. The independent pronouns do not show ownership.  For this, use the possessive noun suffixes, eg. –wIj "my", –lIj "your", -Daj "his, her, its"; ex. DujwIj "my ship"; SojlIj "your food" (Soj "food")
    2. You do not need to use an independent pronoun with an adjective used as a verb.  If you do use one, you must still use the proper verb  prefix, and it gives a special emphasis to the sentence: jIghung "I'm hungry" vs. jIghung jIH "I'M the one who is hungry!" (See above for the placement of jIH, which is the Subject of the verb.)
    3. The independent pronouns can be used with action verbs, again with a special emphasis: HoD HoH ghaH "HE'S the one who is killing the captain."; ghaH vIlegh "HE'S the one I see."
    4. The independent pronouns are used most in a special kind of sentence that identifies one noun with another.  In this case, they act much like forms of the verb "am/are/is".  For example: yaS jIH "I am an officer."; tlhIngan maH "We are Klingons!".  When the Subject of these sentences is not a pronoun, the sentence will take an actual subject noun (always add the suffix –'e'!) and use a third person pronoun as a "to be" connector: tlhIngan ghaH loD'e' "The man is a Klingon"; matlh 'oH pongDaj'e' "His name is Maltz.";  romuluS Dujmey bIH Dujmey'e' "The ships are Romulan (ships)". (ghaH "he, she")

© 2007 Terrence Donnelly

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