Klingon language structure

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This article covers the grammatical , phonetic, and lexical basics of the Klingon language .

The Klingon language is an agglutinating language . There are three parts of speech : nouns , verbs, and others.

Typeface

The Klingon language is represented with Latin letters , which are to be understood as a kind of phonetic transcription . This procedure was chosen in order to be able to write Klingon with common keyboards and also by hand without using the characters of the IPA, which are difficult for the layman to read . Why some letters middle of a word explains this large , others small to be written. The letters are always displayed as specified, i.e. neither at the beginning of a sentence nor changed in proper names. The letters Iand lare difficult to distinguish depending on the font, which is why a representation with serifs is recommended, especially for beginners .

The Klingon alphabet contains 26 letters. It should be noted that the sounds ch, gh, ngand tlhare considered separate letters and also be considered in the alphabetical order like that.

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 ’

pronunciation

Phonetic spelling

A separate phonetic transcription was developed for the pronunciation of Klingon in order to simplify the representation on common media (PC, e-mail, but also handwriting, etc.). Roughly speaking, one can assume that the lower case letters are spoken as in German, while the upper case letters differ from it.

Phonetic spelling IPA description example
Labials
p pʰ Aspirated p, as in German pup kick
b ​b​ B, as in German beb roof
m ​m​ M, as in German meb guest
v ​v​ W, as in German vav father
Coronal
t tʰ Aspirated t, as in German tet melt
D. ​ɖ​ Retroflexes D (with the tip of the tongue on the palate) DoD point
n ​n​ N, as in German nan file
r ​r​ Rolled r ("tip of tongue-r") resemble rur
S. ​ʂ​ Retroflexes sch, as in Mandarin " Sh ànghǎi" SoS mother
l ​l​ L, as in German lam dirt
Dorsal
q qʰ Aspirated uvular (spoken in the throat) k qoq robot
ng ​ŋ​ As in German "Ha ng " ngeng lake
H ​x​ Similar to German "Ba ch " HuH bile
gh ​ɣ​ Grated G ghogh voice
y ​j​ J, as in German yay victory
w ​w​ As in English " w ash", like a German U wew glow
Glottal
' ​ʔ​ Glottal plosive sound , as between the first two syllables of "note" 'o' heck
Affricates
ch ​ʧ​ As in German " Tsch üss" chech drunk
j ​ʤ​ As in German " Dsch ungel" or English " J ohn" yes day
tlh t͡ɬ As in Nahuatl "Nahua tl " (roughly "t" and "l" spoken at the same time) tlhutlh drink
Q q͡χ Like Klingon "q", followed by "ch" as in "Ba ch " QoQ music
Vowels
a ​ɑ​ A, as in German maj well done
e ​ɛ​ As in German " e cht" qet run
I. ​ɪ​ As in German "M i tte" bit nervous
O ​O​ As in German "B oo t" loD man
u ​u​ U, as in German Duj ship

sentence position

The sentence order in Klingon is object-verb-subject : 

targh legh HoD
Der Captain sieht den Targ
wörtlich: Targ sehen Captain

Word structure

As a rule, syllables in Klingon consist of three letters in the form consonant - vowel - consonant and never start with a vowel. The apostrophe is regarded as a consonant, as are the combinations . ch, gh, ng und tlh

Examples: foot , man , womanqam loD be’


Exceptions are the endings ...rgh, ...y’and ...w’.

Examples: when , problematic , permissionghorgh qay’ chaw’


Words can consist of several syllables, in some cases a syllable can end without a consonant:

Examples: alone , courage , rivetnIteb toDuj veragh

noun

There are no articles . Simple words such as B. tlhIngancan be translated as Klingon , but also as Klingon , Klingon or Klingons . Likewise, there is no grammatical gender, so the Klingon can tlhInganalso mean.

There are a total of five different noun suffixes that can be appended. Multiple suffixes of the same type must never be used. The order must be strictly observed, but not all types have to be used at the same time. So a scheme of a Klingon word is: 

Substantiv-1-2-3-4-5

An example that includes all suffixes: 

QaghHommeyHeylIjmo’
wegen deiner scheinbar kleinen Fehler
wörtlich: Fehler-klein-Plural-scheinbar-dein-wegen

Type 1: Measure of importance

The first suffix is ​​used to enlarge ( -’a’), reduce ( -Hom), or minimize ( -oy). This suffix not only has to do with dimensions, but also indicates the meaning or importance. The belittling is very rarely used in Klingon and mostly only used by relatives (e.g. vavoyfor papi ).

Type 2: plural

The second suffix can be used to indicate the plural . A distinction is made between whether it is used for beings that can speak ( -pu’) or body parts ( -Du’). For everything else is -meyused. Intentionally misuse of this last suffix indicates that the body parts or beings are "widely dispersed".

Type 3: quality

With the help of the third suffix it is possible to indicate how sure the speaker is about the noun. With -qoqindicates an ironic or incorrect meaning; this is translated rojqoqas "so- called / r / s" ( German about "so-called peace"). If there is some uncertainty, it is added -Heyto the noun and with -na’is used to say that something is clear (as opposed to -Hey).

Type 4: possession

In fourth place is the possessive suffix. A distinction must be made as to whether the noun is a person or not.

1st person
Sing.		 2nd person
Sing.		 3rd person
Sing.		 1st person
Pl.		 2nd person
Pl.		 3rd person
Pl.
no person -wIj -lIj -Daj -maj -raj -chaj
person -wI’ -lI’ -ma’ -ra’

Another suffix in this group is -vamwith the meaning "this / r / s" and its counterpart for objects further away -vetlh, which corresponds roughly to "that / r / s there".

Type 5: Syntax hints

The last and fifth suffix give additional information about the function of the noun in the sentence.

When appending -Daqto the noun, something happens or moves in the immediate vicinity of the noun. With -vo’indicates a movement that leads away from the noun. With -mo’indicates that the statement in the sentence is based on the noun. By -vaDindicates that it is useful or intended for something. The suffix -’e’can be used to emphasize which noun is the most important in the sentence .

Verbs

A verb consists of a maximum of one pronominal prefix and up to nine suffixes. 

 Pronominalvorsilbe-Verb-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

Pronominal prefix

The subject and the object are identified by different prefixes.

object
None 1st person
Sing.		 2nd person
Sing.		 3rd person
Sing.		 1st person
Pl.		 2nd person
Pl.		 3rd person
Pl.
jI- - qa- vI- - Sa- vI- 1st person Sing. subject
bi- cho- - There- ju- - There- 2nd person Sing.
mu- You- nu- lI- 3rd person Sing.
ma- - pi- wI- - re- DI- 1st person Pl.
Su- tu- - bo- che- - bo- 2nd person Pl.
mu- nI- lu- nu- lI- 3rd person Pl.
vI- There- wI- bo- lu- Indefinite
Legend meaning
- Invalid combination
No prefix
Word- Normal prefix

So legh ( see ) with the prefix qa- becomes qalegh ( I see you ).

imperative

The imperative is formed with other prefixes that make no distinction between singular and plural as long as the object is given.

object
None 1st person
Sing.		 3rd person
Sing.		 1st person
Pl.		 3rd person
Pl.
yI- HI- yI- gho- tI- 2nd person Sing. subject
pe- 2nd person Pl.

Suffixes

As with nouns, there are various suffixes for verbs, with a maximum of one per group, but not all suffixes have to be used. It is also important to adhere to the order of the suffixes, even if rearrangement might result in a meaningful change in meaning at first glance.

Type 1: Reflexive assignment

To indicate that the verb is applied to the subject itself, the pronominal prefix for “no object” is used along with the suffix -'egh . If the subject is plural, you can use the pronominal prefix for “no object” and the suffix -chuq to indicate that it is executed “each other” or “mutually”. So mean , we see each other / one another in Klingon maleghchuq ( legh means to "see" German).

Type 2: freedom of choice and preparation

The second suffix can be used to indicate how much freedom of choice the subject has and how far the preparations are. This is how -nIS expresses that something needs to be done. If someone wants to do something voluntarily, this can be said with -qang . Readiness is indicated with -rup for living beings and -beH for objects . If the subject cannot do something or is afraid, the suffix -vIp is used. This suffix is ​​rarely used together with the subject from the first person, as this is subject to a cultural taboo.

There is the exception that the verb ghuS (German: “be prepared to be shot”) cannot be used together with the suffix -rup .

Type 3: change

The third suffix indicates a change. Thus -choH expresses that a change of direction or turn is happening. When an activity is resumed, the -qa ' suffix is used.

Type 4: Induction

The fourth suffix -moH implies that the subject causes it and new conditions arise.

Type 5: Indeterminate subject and ability

The fifth suffix consists of two different possibilities. For example, -lu ' can be used to indicate that the subject is unknown; this is translated as someone or something . This changes the meaning of the conjugation of the verb. The pronominal prefix of the 3rd person singular is used for the subject and the original form of the subject for the object. So from Dalegh (German: "You see it") with the suffix Daleghlu ' (German: "Somebody sees you"). In the table of pronominal prefixes they are in the bottom line.

In addition, the suffix -laH can be used to indicate that the subject is capable of performing the activity.

Type 6: quality

Similar to the third suffix of nouns, this sixth suffix indicates how confident the speaker is that the statement is correct. If it applies exactly or perfectly, -chu 'is added. With -bej is meant without a doubt and of course. -Law 'is used for uncertainty ; this can also be translated as "I think" or "I suspect". If there are still doubts, but if it is otherwise obviously clear that the statement is correct, -ba 'is used.

Type 7: aspect

There are no times ( tenses ), so the context must be used to determine what time it is. If there is no suffix, it is assumed that the action has not yet completed and is not ongoing. If the action is ongoing then -pu 'is used, and when it is complete then -ta' . Alternatively, rIntaH can be used as a verb, as it means that the action is complete and not irreversible. The word consists of rIn (German: “finished be”, “completed”) and the suffix -taH from this category. The suffix -taH indicates an ongoing action. If this action goes to a known target, the suffix -lI 'is used instead of -taH .

Type 8: Honor

The eighth suffix -neS indicates that the speaker is honored to perform the action.

Type 9: Syntax hints

As with the fifth suffix of nouns, this suffix shows what role the verb has. So -DI ' translates as "as soon as" or "if" and -chugh as "if". The suffix -pa ' is translated as “before” and -vIS as “during”. The suffix -vIS is always used together with -taH . With -bogh is marked that it is a relative clause is. By -meH a subordinate clause specifies which is initiated with "to". By -mo ' a subordinate clause with is "because" initiated. A decision question is displayed with -'a ' . The suffix -jaj is used to indicate “may you” or something similar . This suffix is ​​used especially for curses and toasts ("May you be successful"). Similar to German there is a possibility to substantiate a verb . The suffix -ghach is added after other verb suffixes.

By -Wi ' the verb is converted into a noun, which performs the action. This roughly corresponds to adding “-er” in German as with “Fahr er ”. So from So (German: "camouflage") with this suffix becomes the word SowI ' , which means "something that camouflages" and is translated as "camouflage device". This works for both objects and people, for example with the word baHwI ' (German: “Schütze”): This consists of baH (German: “fire”) and means “someone who fires”.

traveler

In Klingon, in addition to the classic suffixes, there are so-called "travelers", which can be added as a suffix at any point. In contrast to the usual suffixes, any number of travelers can be added to the verb.

The suffix -be ' negates the verb and expresses that the activity is omitted. In German this can be translated as “not”. If the imperative is used, the suffix -Qo 'is used instead. This suffix is ​​the only traveler who always comes last but before the ninth verb suffix. By -Ha ' the meaning of the verb in the opposite is reversed. This suffix is ​​also applicable to imperatives. The suffix -qu ' is used to emphasize the suffix or verb immediately before it. Because it is a traveler, a special property of the verb can be emphasized. So jIchungqu'be ' is translated as "I do not accelerate .", While with exchanged travelers - jIchungbe'qu' - the translation is "I do not accelerate ."

Other parts of speech

In Klingon, all parts of speech except verbs and nouns are called chuvmey (German: the rest / remainder ). These contain e.g. B. Pronouns , adverbs and numerals .

pronoun

There are 8 pronouns in Klingon, with the third person distinguishing between objects and living beings:

1st person
Sing.		 2nd person
Sing.		 3rd person
Sing.		 1st person
Pl.		 2nd person
Pl.		 3rd person
Pl.
Objects jIH SoH 'Oh maH tlhIH bIH
Creature ghaH chaH

A pronoun can function as both an object and a subject. Since the translation of z. B. jIH well I as well am I may be, may, depending on the use of noun suffixes or verb suffixes are appended. 

tlhIngan jIHbe’
Ich bin kein Klingone
wörtlich: Klingone ich-nicht

If the prefix to the verb makes it clear who is the object and who is the subject in the sentence, then the use of a pronoun is superfluous, unless something is to be emphasized. In German this is only done through stress: 

qayajbe’ jIH
ICH verstehe dich nicht.
wörtlich: ich-dich verstehen nicht ich
SoH qayajbe’
Ich verstehe DICH nicht.
wörtlich: du ich-dich verstehen nicht

Adverbs

With two exceptions, these words are always at the beginning of the sentence. You can in a few cases take the suffix -Ha ' to get the opposite meaning.

numbers

Numbers are used similarly to German. You stand in front of a noun to determine its number. For larger numbers there are syllables that are appended that grow in steps of ten. Ordinal numerals are formed with the suffix -DIch , duplication numerals with the suffix -logh . If the number follows the noun, it is used for numbering similar to an ordinal number. So does Duj we ' ship one while we' Duj contrast, a ship means. Suffixes around the plural are not necessary when the number is used. It is enough to use cha 'Duj (German: two ships ) instead of cha' Dujmey .

For tens up to million there are the following suffixes, which are simply appended to the number:

10 -maH
100 -vatlh
1,000 -SaD -SanID
10,000 -netlh
100,000 -bIp
1,000,000 -'uy '
0 pagh 5 vagh
1 wa ' 6th jav
2 cha ' 7th So
3 wej 8th chorgh
4th Come on 9 cap

For example, 1 337 can be translated into either wa'SaD wejvatlh wejmaH Soch or wa'SanID wejvatlh wejmaH Soch .

literature

Web links