Klingon Language Postal Course

A Sponsored Project of the Klingon Language Institute

P.O. Box 634, Flourtown, PA 19031 USA, http://www.kli.org/

Lesson 1
created by David Barron

To take the free Postal Course you need to study and answer the review-questions at the end, and then send them by e-mail to postal@kli.org, or by regular mail (along with a self-addressed stamped envelope) to: Klingon Language Lessons c/o Eric Andeen 2323 North Central Avenue, 1801 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Be certain you include sufficient postage to cover two ounces of materials. Your answers will be corrected and returned, and you can then move on to the next lesson. The Klingon Language was developed by Marc Okrand for several Star Trek films and has continued to be used in each spin-off series. The Language is described fully in The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand and for purposes of these lessons it is assumed you already have a copy. If not, the dictionary may be purchased at your local bookstore or from the KLI itself by visiting our merchant page at http://www.kli.org/ Throughout this course references will be made to the dictionary by chapters and sections. Example: (4,2.7) refers to chapter 4, section 2.7

PRONUNCIATION This lesson does not go in depth into the proper pronunciation of Klingon words. Pages 13-17 of TKD describes how each consonant and vowel are best pronounced in order to speak tlhIngan Hol coherently. You'll become better at speaking tlhIngan Hol the more you practice. We highly recommend you review the pronunciation guide regularly, and practice saying each lesson aloud in order to polish your skills. Speaking tlhIngan Hol properly is not for the meek (1,1.1-1.3). Learn to project every word with strength even if it might be mispronounced at first. The word order of tlhIngan Hol is the reverse of English. Where we would say "I see the officer" (subject-verb-object) in tlhIngan Hol you would instead arrange it as "The officer see I" (object-verb-subject). NOUNS We begin with a few illustrations of the construction of Nouns. A noun can have up to five different suffixes attached to it (Types 1 through 5). Type 1 suffixes, when used, always immediately follow the noun. These suffixes indicate size. 'a' for augmenting a noun, and Hom for diminishing its size or importance. Example: juH home juH'a' mansion juHHom cottage

Suffix Type 2 deals with plurals. Any plural that refers to beings that use language must end in pu'. Example: tera'nganpu' Earthers verenganpu' Ferengi vulqanganpu' Vulcans juppu' friends
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When referring to parts of the body the suffix Du' is used to indicate the plural. Example: Ho'Du' teeth ghopDu' hands nItlhDu' fingers

Finally, for everything else (i.e., neither language users nor body parts), mey is used. Example: Sajmey pets navmey papers mu'mey words

VERBS Verbs are unique because they have a prefix that indicates both subject and object. The result can be one word that is an entire sentence. Example: qa (pfx) subj: I / obj: you jatlh (v) speak qajatlh I speak to you (While not actually a greeting, this can be used to start a conversation) This lesson we will begin with four of the verb prefixes. subject jI bI qa cho I you I you object none none you me example jIlaj bInep qaqIp choQaH I accept you lie I hit you you help me

Like the nouns, Klingon verbs also make use of suffixes. One such suffix, from the class of suffixes known as "rovers," is be' which is used for negating the verb. Example: jI (pfx) subj: I / obj: none nep (v) lie (fib) jInepbe' I am not lying be' (sfx) not

mu'tay' (VOCABULARY) This is a list of all of the words that have been used up to this point as well as the words that will be used in the Question and Answer section. A (n) or (v) follows each word indicating if it is a noun or a verb. NOTE: tlhIngan Hol has no articles such as English's "a," "an," or "the."

tlhIngan juH tera' vulqan verengan nav jatlh qIp lob Such

klingon (n) home (n) Earth, Terra (n) Vulcan (planet) (n) Ferengi (person) (n) paper (n) speak, say (v) hit (v) obey (v) visit (v)

Hol jup tera'ngan vulqangan Ho' yIn nep 'oy' ghoj ghaj

language (n) friend (n) Earther, Terran (n Vulcan (person) (n) tooth (n) life (n), live (v) lie (v) hurt (n), hurt (v) learn (v) have (v)

mu' Doch Saj nItlh ghop laj legh QaH ghItlh

word (n) thing (n) pet (n) finger (n) hand (n) accept (v) see (v) help (v) write (v)

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LESSON 1 - QUESTIONS Answer these questions on a separate piece of paper and email it back or send it with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Your answers will be corrected and returned and then you can proceed to Lesson 2. TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) tlhIngan Hol ghoj tera'ngan mu'mey jatlh tlhIngan cholegh ghopHomDu' ghaj verenganpu' choSuch jatlhbe' Sajmey mu'mey ghaj Holmey bIyIn qaghItlhbe' tera'ngan 'oy' Saj 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) TRANSLATE INTO KLINGON I see you. The friend has teeth. You hit me. I accept. Humans have big teeth. Words lie. The thing obeys Ferengi words. The Klingon speaks Klingon. You lie. Small papers.

2001 KLI. Revised 011122

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