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*** 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 parti-
cular 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 it's 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 trans-
lated 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 one sole
exception refers to situations where a command is given to several people, but
hhere 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,
dont 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 sub-
jects. 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 exress how much choice the subject has about the
action described, or how much predesposioned the subject is about 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 con-
sidered 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 in-
volves 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 trans-
lation is 'cause me to hear (something)'. Also,
this sentence is not a request, but more a
command!
TYPE 5: INDEFINIT 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 no 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 com-
pleted. 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 fin-
ality 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 coun-
terpart 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 some-
one 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 sole 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 either 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 so as 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. Never-
theless, it is still considered a rover because it
is the imperative counterpart to -be'.
