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Klingonlanguage
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheKlingonlanguage(tlhInganHol,pronounced/ t .nxol/)istheconstructedlanguagespokenbythe fictionalKlingonsintheStarTrekuniverse. Describedinthe1984bookTheKlingonDictionaryby MarcOkrandanddeliberatelydesignedtosound"alien", ithasanumberoftypologicallyuncommonfeatures.The language'sbasicsound,alongwithafewwords,wasfirst devisedbyactorJamesDoohan("Scotty")forStarTrek: TheMotionPicture.Thatfilmmarkedthefirsttimethe languagehadbeenheardonscreen.Inallprevious appearances,KlingonsspokeinEnglish.Klingonwas subsequentlydevelopedbyOkrandintoafullfledged language. KlingonissometimesreferredtoasKlingonese(most notablyintheStarTrek:TheOriginalSeriesepisode "TheTroublewithTribbles",whereitwasactually pronouncedbyaKlingoncharacteras"Klingonee" /kloni/)but,amongtheKlingonspeakingcommunity, thisisoftenunderstoodtorefertoanotherKlingon languagecalledKlingonaasethatwasintroducedinJohn M.Ford's1984StarTreknovelTheFinalReflection,and appearsinotherStarTreknovelsbyFord.Ashorthand versionofKlingonaase,andlaterwiththesameterm adoptedbytlhInganHolitself,iscalled"battlelanguage", or"ClippedKlingon". TheKlingonChristmasCarolplayisthefirstproduction thatisprimarilyinKlingon(onlythenarratorspeaks English).Theopera'u'isentirelyinKlingon.
Createdby Settingand usage Users Purpose

Klingon
tlhInganHol .nxol/ Pronunciation /t MarcOkrand,JamesDoohan StarTrekfilmsandtelevisionseries (TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise) andtheopera 'u'. Around12fluentspeakers (1996)[1] constructedlanguages artisticlanguages fictionallanguages Klingon Writing system Sources Latin (pIqaD),Klingonalphabets constructedlanguages apriorilanguages Officialstatus Regulatedby MarcOkrand Languagecodes ISO6392 ISO6393
t l h t l h

AsmallnumberofpeoplearecapableofconversinginKlingon.Itsvocabulary,heavilycenteredonStar TrekKlingonconceptssuchasspacecraftorwarfare,cansometimesmakeitcumbersomeforeverydayuse.

Contents
1Externalhistory 2Language 3Speakers 4Appearanceanduse

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4.1StarTrekfeaturefilms 4.2Othermovies 4.2.1CorrectKlingon 4.2.2OtherreferencestoKlingonlanguage 4.3Televisionshows 4.4Othermedia 5Canon 5.1Internalhistory 5.2Sources 6Phonology 6.1Consonants 6.2Vowels 6.3Syllablestructure 6.4Stress 7Grammar 8Writingsystems 9Vocabulary 10Examplesentences 11Seealso 12Notes 13References 14Externallinks

Externalhistory
ThoughmentionedintheoriginalStarTrekseriesepisode"TheTroubleWithTribbles",theKlingon languagefirstappearedonscreeninStarTrek:TheMotionPicture(1979).Accordingtotheactorwhospoke thelines,MarkLenard,JamesDoohanrecordedthelineshehadwrittenonatape,andLenardtranscribedthe recordedlinesinawayhefoundusefulinlearningthem.HowcloselyLenard'sdeliveryofthelinesmatches Doohan'sintentionsisnotknown.[2] ForStarTrekIII:TheSearchforSpock(1984)directorLeonardNimoyandwriterproducerHarveBennett wantedtheKlingonstospeakaproperlanguageinsteadofmadeupgibberishandsocommissionedafull languagebasedonthephrasesDoohanhadcomeupfromMarcOkrand,whohadearlierdevisedfourlinesof VulcandialogueforStarTrekII:TheWrathofKhan.[2][3]Okrandenlargedthelexiconanddeveloped grammarbasedontheoriginaldozenwordsDoohanhadcreated.Thelanguageappearedintermittentlyin laterfilmsfeaturingtheoriginalcastforexample,inStarTrekV:TheFinalFrontier(1989)andinStarTrek VI:TheUndiscoveredCountry(1991),wheretranslationdifficultiesservedasaplotdevice. Two"noncanon"dialectsofKlingonarehintedatinthenovelizationofStarTrekIII:TheSearchforSpock, asSaavikspeaksinKlingon,totheonlyKlingonofficeraboardCapt.Kruge'sstarshipafterhisdeath,asthe survivorsoftheEnterprise'sselfdestructiontransportupfromthecrumblingGenesisPlanettotheKlingon

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ship.Thesurvivingofficer,Maltz,statesthathespeakstheRumaiydialect,whileSaavikisspeakingtohimin theKumburandialectofKlingon,perMaltz'spokenreplytoher.[4] WiththeadventoftheseriesStarTrek:TheNextGeneration(1987)inwhichoneofthemaincharacters, Worf,wasaKlingonandsuccessors,thelanguageandvariousculturalaspectsforthefictionalspecieswere expanded.IntheStarTrek:TheNextGenerationepisode"AMatterofHonor",severalmembersofa Klingonship'screwspeakalanguagethatisnottranslatedforthebenefitoftheviewer(evenCommander Riker,enjoyingthebenefitsofauniversaltranslator,isunabletounderstand)untiloneKlingonordersthe othersto"speaktheir[i.e.'humans']language".AsmallnumberofnonKlingoncharacterswerelater depictedinStarTrekashavinglearnedtospeakKlingon,notablyJeanLucPicardandJadziaDax. WorfwouldlaterreappearamongtheregularcharactersinStarTrek:DeepSpaceNine(1993)andB'Elanna Torres,aKlingonhumanhybrid,wouldbecomeamaincharacteronStarTrek:Voyager(1995).Theuseof untranslatedKlingonwordsinterspersedwithconversationtranslatedintoEnglishwascommonplaceinlater seasonsofStarTrek:DeepSpaceNine,whenKlingonsbecameamoreimportantpartoftheseries'overall storyarcs.[citationneeded] ThepilotepisodeoftheprequelseriesStarTrek:Enterprise,"BrokenBow"(2001)describestheKlingon languageashaving"eightypolygutturaldialectsconstructedonanadaptivesyntax".However,Klingonas describedontelevisionisoftennotentirelycongruouswiththeKlingondevelopedbyOkrand.

Language
HobbyistsaroundtheworldhavestudiedtheKlingonlanguage.Four Klingontranslationsofworksofworldliteraturehavebeen published:ghIlghameS(Gilgamesh),Hamlet(Hamlet),paghmo'tIn mIS(MuchAdoAboutNothing)andpIn'a'qanpaQDI'norgh(TaoTe Ching).TheShakespearianchoiceswereinspiredbyaremarkfrom HighChancellorGorkoninStarTrekVI:TheUndiscovered Country,whosaid,"YouhavenotexperiencedShakespeareuntil youhavereadhimintheoriginalKlingon."Inthebonusmaterialon theDVD,screenwriterNicholasMeyerandactorWilliamShatner bothexplainthatthiswasanallusiontotheGermanmyththat ShakespearewasinfactGerman[citationneeded]. TheKlingonLanguageInstituteexiststopromotethelanguage.[5] CBSTelevisionStudiosownsacopyrightoftheofficialdictionary andothercanonicaldescriptionsofthelanguage.Whileconstructed languages("conlangs")areviewedascreationswithcopyright protection,[citationneeded]naturallanguagesarenotprotected, excludingdictionariesand/orotherworkscreatedwiththem.Mizuki TheKlingonHamlet MiyashitaandLauraMollnote,"Copyrightsondictionariesare unusualbecausetheentriesinthedictionaryarenotcopyrightableas thewordsthemselvesarefacts,andfactscannotbecopyrighted.However,theformatting,example sentences,andinstructionsfordictionaryusearecreatedbytheauthor,sotheyarecopyrightable."[6]
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WhetherconstructedlanguagescanbecopyrightedwastestedincourtintheexampleofLoglanandits derivativeLojban.[citationneeded] OkrandhadstudiedsomeNativeAmericanandSoutheastAsianlanguages,[7][8]andphonologicaland grammaticalfeaturesoftheselanguages"workedtheirwayintoKlingon,butforthemostpart,notby design."[2]OkrandhimselfhasstatedthatadesignprincipleoftheKlingonlanguagewasdissimilarityto existingnaturallanguagesingeneral,andEnglishinparticular.Hethereforeavoidedpatternsthatare typologicallycommonanddeliberatelychosefeaturesthatoccurrelativelyinfrequentlyinhumanlanguages. Thisincludesaboveallthehighlyasymmetricconsonantinventoryandthebasicwordorder.[9] The20032010versionofthepuzzleglobelogoofWikipedia, representingitsmultilingualism,containedaKlingoncharacter.The updatedlogoremovedthecharacterandsubstitutedonefromthe Ge'ezscript.

Speakers
AsmallnumberofpeoplearecapableofconversinginKlingon. ArikaOkrentguessedinherbook"IntheLandofInvented Languages"thattheremightbe2030fluentspeakers.[10]Its vocabulary,heavilycenteredonStarTrekKlingonconceptssuchas spacecraftorwarfare,cansometimesmakeitcumbersomefor PreviousWikipedialogowith everydayuse.Forinstance,whilewordsfortransporterionizerunit Klingoncharacteratupperright (jolvoy')orbridge(ofaship)(meH)havebeenknownsincecloseto thelanguage'sinception,thewordforbridgeinthesenseofa crossingoverwater(QI)wasunknownuntilAugust2012.[11]Nonetheless,mundaneconversationsare commonamongskilledspeakers.[12] OneKlingonspeaker,d'ArmondSpeers,raisedhissonAlectospeakKlingonasafirstlanguage,whilstthe boy'smothercommunicatedwithhiminEnglish.[13]AlecrarelyrespondedtohisfatherinKlingon,although whenhedidhispronunciationwas"excellent".AfterAlec'sfifthbirthdaySpeersreportedthathisson eventuallystoppedrespondingtohimwhenspokentoinKlingonasheclearlydidnotenjoyit,soSpeers switchedtoEnglish.[14][15] InMay2009,Simon&Schuster,incollaborationwithUltralinguaInc.,adeveloperofelectronicdictionary applications,announcedthereleaseofasuiteofelectronicKlingonlanguagesoftwareformostcomputer platformsincludingadictionary,aphrasebook,andanaudiolearningtool.[citationneeded] InSeptember2011,Eurotalkreleasedthe"LearnKlingon"courseinitsTalkNow!series.Thelanguageis displayedinbothLatinandpIqaDfontsmakingthisthefirstlanguagecoursewritteninpIqaDandapproved byCBSandMarcOkrand.ItwastranslatedbyJonathanBrownandOkrandandusestheHolpIqaD TrueTypefont.[citationneeded]

Appearanceanduse
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TheKlingonlanguagewasfirstdevelopedonlyforthepurposeofbeingusedinStarTrek.Adaily conversationoraperfecttranslationofliteraturearedifficultbecauseofthesmallvocabularyofonly3000 words.Fansenjoyusingthelanguageonconventionsandforroleplayingtogivetheircharacteramore realisticappearance(alsoseecosplay).ThereareKlingonlanguagemeetings[16][17]andevenlinguistsor studentsareinterestedinresearchingthistopic,evenwritingessaysaboutthelanguageoritsusers.Inthe mediabeingmusic,literatureandtelevisionKlingonisalsousedfrequentlyasareferencetoStarTrek.

StarTrekfeaturefilms
Klingonisusedinthefollowingfilms: StarTrek:TheMotionPicture(1979) Atotalofonlyelevenshortphrases.ThesewerecreatedbyJamesDoohanandmadethebasisforthe languagedevelopedbyOkrand. StarTrekIII:TheSearchforSpock(1984) SomedialogueswerefirstspokeninEnglishandlaterrecordedinKlingon. StarTrekV:TheFinalFrontier(1989) ThisfilmhasthelargestuseofKlingon. StarTrekVI:TheUndiscoveredCountry(1991) LotsofKlingondialoguesandalsountranslatedbackgroundscreams. StarTrekGenerations(1994) OnesinglewordwasheardinthebackgroundofaKlingons'scene. StarTrek(2009) TwosceneswithKlingonphraseshadbeencutfromthefilm.Theseareshowninthespecialfeatures partofthefilm'sDVD. StarTrekIntoDarkness(2013) ThereisascenewithKlingonswherecommunicationsofficerUhura(ZoSaldaa)talkstothemin Klingon.

Othermovies
CorrectKlingon

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DaddyDayCare(2003) OneofthechildrenspeaksafewphrasesinKlingon. Faintheart(2008) OneofthemaincharacterslovesStarTrek,sohespeaksKlingontohisgirlfriendduringaromantic situationaftersheaskedhimtodoso. Paul(2011) Inthisfilmabouttwonerdsfindinganalienlifeform,themaincharactersplayedbySimonPeggand NickFrostuseKlingonasaformofsecretcommunication.[18] OtherreferencestoKlingonlanguage KillBill(2003) Thisfilmstartswithanimageofthe"oldKlingonproverb",displayedinEnglish:"Revengeisadish bestservedcold".KhanhadreferredtothisphraseasanoldKlingonproverbinStarTrekII:The WrathofKhan. GardenState(2004) ThereisasceneinwhichthecharacterTim,playedbyJimParsons,appearstospeakKlingon,butno canonKlingonisused. Fanboys(2009) ThereisascenewhereoneofthemaincharactersasksaStarTrekfanwhatthephrase"you'regoingto dieavirgin"isinKlingon. TheSpyNextDoor(2010) AcharactersaysthatIan"foundaKlingondictionary"online.

Televisionshows
StarTrek:TheNextGeneration,StarTrek:DeepSpaceNine SeveralepisodesuseKlingonwords,butnoneuseKlingonasfrequentlyasitisusedinStarTrekfilms. TheSimpsons(February2001) Inepisode11ofthetwelfthseasonofTheSimpsons,(entitledWorstEpisodeEver),ComicBookGuy istossedoutofMoe'sbar.Lyinginthegutter,heaskshimself,"IsthereawordinKlingonfor

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'loneliness'?"Flippingthroughhishandypocketdictionary,helooksskywardandexclaims, "Garr'dock!".Likewise,herecitesaKlingonoathofloveintheepisodeMyBigFatGeekWedding whenabouttomarryEdnaKrabappelataStarTrekconvention.Noneoftheseis"correct"Klingon, butthewordLOVEisvisibleusingKlingonletters. BuffytheVampireSlayer(May2002) InBuffytheVampireSlayer(season6),intheepisode"Seeing Red"Klingonoccursinwriting(inpIqaD)atonepointwhen themaincharactersrummagethroughtheeviltrio'slairin searchforcluestotheirplans.Gilesismystifiedbytheweird glyphs,butXanderimmediately(andcorrectly)recognizethis asKlingon. Frasier(November2002) In"StarMitzvah",aSeason10episodeofthesitcom,Frasier CranegivesaspeechinKlingonattheceremonyforhisson's BarMitzvahhavingbeenfooledbyaJewishcolleaguehe hadletdownintothinkingitwasHebrew.[19] HowIMetYourMother(November2005) Intheeighthepisodeofthefirstseason(2005)"theDuel"Robinisforcedtocanceladatewithageek. HeanswerswithaKlingoninsultHabSoSlI'Quch("Yourmotherhasasmoothforehead")explaining thatshewasactingwithouthonor. NavyCIS(NCIS)(October2006) In"WitchHunt",anepisodeofthetelevisioncrimedrama,TimothyMcGee,whounderstands Klingon,communicateswithasuspectdressedasaKlingonataHalloweenparty,untilhissuperior, LeroyJethroGibbs,becomesimpatientenoughtoforcethesuspecttospeakinEnglish. Chuck(September2007January2012) ChuckBartowskiandBryceLarkincommunicateinKlingonwhennobodyelseshouldunderstandand toverifytheiridentity. TheBigBangTheory(November2008etal.) InTheBigBangTheory,therearefrequentreferencestoKlingon.Inthesecondseasonepisode"The PantyPiataPolarization",Sheldon,Leonard,Howard,andRajareseenplayingKlingonBoggleand speakseveralKlingonwordsduringthegame.Inthethirdseasonepisode"TheCreepyCandyCoating Corollary",SheldonactuallyquotestheKlingonproverbreferredtobyKhaninStarTrekII:revenge beingadishbestservedcold.Inthefifthseasonfinale,"TheCountdownReflection",Sheldontriesto wedHowardandBernadetteinKlingon.Inthesixthepisodeoftheseventhseason,"TheRomance
Klingon"lovepoem"asseeninBuffy episode"SeeingRed"

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Resonance",HowardW.singsasongforhiswifeBernadetteandincludesaphraseinKlingon.

Othermedia
In2010,aChicagoTheatrecompanypresentedaversionofCharlesDickens'AChristmasCarolinKlingon languageandaKlingonsetting.[20]OnSeptember25,2010,theShakespeareTheatreCompany (Washington)performedselectionsfromHamletandMuchAdoAboutNothingintheKlingonlanguagein Arlington,Virginia.TheperformancewasproposedbyOkrandinhiscapacityaschairmanofthegroup's board.[21]ThisperformancewasreprisedonFebruary27,2011featuringStephenFryastheKlingonOsric andwasfilmedbytheBBCaspartofa5partdocumentaryonlanguageentitledFry'sPlanetWord. AcrypticmessageleftbyaserialkillerinKlingonisaplotpointinthenovelWatchMebyA.J.Holt.[22] GoogleSearch[23]andMinecrafteachhaveaKlingonlanguagesetting. TheJanuary12,2003stripofSomethingPositiveshowedagamerspeakinginKlingon.[24] ThelogoofwikipediahasaKlingonlanguagecharacterbeforeitsupdatein2010. InthetitletracktoKateBush's50WordsforSnow,theKlingonphrasepeDtaH'ejchISqo'appearsas number42.ShethanksMarcOkrandinthelinernotesforprovidingthetranslation(forwhichtheliteral translationbackintoEnglishis"It'ssnowingandtheworldiswhite.").[25]

Canon
AnimportantconcepttospokenandwrittenKlingoniscanonicity.Onlywordsandgrammaticalforms introducedbyMarcOkrandareconsideredcanonicalKlingonbytheKLIandmostKlingonists.However,as thegrowingnumberofspeakersemploydifferentstrategiestoexpressthemselves,itisoftenunclearasto whatlevelofneologismispermissible.[26]

Internalhistory
WithinthefictionaluniverseofStarTrek,Klingonisderivedfromtheoriginallanguagespokenbythe messianicfigureKahlesstheUnforgettable,whounitedtheKlingonhomeworldofQo'noSunderoneempire morethan1500yearsago.[27]Manydialectsexist,butthestandardizeddialectofprestigeisalmostinvariably thatofthesittingemperor.

Sources
TheKlingonLanguageInstituteregardsthefollowingworksascanonKlingontheyserveassourcesof Klingonvocabularyandgrammarforallotherworks.[28] Books TheKlingonDictionary(TKD) TheKlingonWay(TKW)

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KlingonfortheGalacticTraveler(KGT) Sarek,anovelwhichincludessometlhInganHol FederationTravelGuide,apamphletfromPocketbooks paq'batlh:TheKlingonEpic(ISBN9789081709125),ed.FlorisSchnfeldetal.,trans.Marc Okrand.Includesthefirstfulleditionofthepaq'batlhandno'Holfragments. Audiotapes ConversationalKlingon(CK) PowerKlingon(PK) TheKlingonWay(TKW) Electronicresources TheKlingonLanguageSuite,languagelearningtoolsfromUltralinguawithSimon&Schuster StarTrek:Klingon,aCDROMgame(KCD,alsoSTK).TheCDROMincludesaKlingonlearning modulewithspeechrecognitiontotraintheplayerinKlingonpronunciationthismodulewas developedbyDragonSystems,Inc.(whichiscreditedontheboxandintheCDROM)in collaborationwithMarcOkrand. TalkNow!LearnKlingonabeginnerslanguagecoursefortheEarthbasedKlingonbyeurotalkand translatedbyJonathanBrown(a.k.a.qe'San)andMarcOkrand.(2011) Othersources certainarticlesinHolQeD(thejournaloftheKLI)(HQ) certainSkyboxTradingCards(SKY) aStarTrekBirdofPreyposter(BoP) onlineandinpersontext/speechbyMarcOkrand(mostlynewsgrouppostings) Thelettersinparenthesesfollowingeachitem(ifany)indicatetheacronymofeachsourceusedwhen quotingcanon.

Phonology
Klingonhasbeendevelopedwithaphonologythat,whilebasedonhumannaturallanguages,isintendedto soundalientohumanears.Wheninitiallydeveloped,ParamountPictures(ownersoftheStarTrekfranchise) wantedtheKlingonlanguagetobegutturalandharshandOkrandwantedittobeunusual,soheselected soundsthatcombinedinwaysnotgenerallyfoundinotherlanguages.Theeffectismainlyachievedbythe useofanumberofretroflexanduvularconsonantsinthelanguage'sinventory[citationneeded].Klingonhas twentyoneconsonantsandfivevowels.KlingonisnormallywritteninavariantoftheLatinalphabet(see below).Inthisorthography,upperandlowercaselettersarenotinterchangeable(uppercaselettersmostly representsoundsdifferentfromthoseexpectedbyEnglishspeakers).Inthediscussionbelow,standard Klingonorthographyappearsinanglebrackets,andthephonemictranscriptionintheInternationalPhonetic Alphabetiswrittenbetween/slashes/.

Consonants

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TheinventoryofconsonantsinKlingonisspreadoveranumberofplacesofarticulation.Inspiteofthis,the inventoryhasmanygaps:Klingonhasnovelarplosives,andonlyonesibilant.Deliberately,thisarrangement isquitebizarrebythestandardsofhumanlanguages.Thecombinationofanaspiratedvoicelessalveolar plosive/t/andavoicedretroflexplosive//isparticularlyunusual. Plosive Affricate Fricative Nasal Trill Approximant
voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced

Labial p/p/ b/b/ v/v/ m/m/ w/w/

Dentaloralveolar
Central Lateral

Retroflex D//

Postalveolar Velar Uvular Glottal orpalatal ch/t / j/d / H/x/ gh// ng// q/q/ Q/q / '//

t/t/ tlh/t / n/n/ r/r/ (//)

S// l/l/

y/j/

Thereareafewdialectalpronunciationdifferences:[29] IntheKrotmagdialect /b/isreplacedby/m/ //isreplacedby// IntheTak'evdialect: /b/becomes/mb/ //becomes// IntheMorskandialect /t /isreplacedbyt s /x/isreplacedby/h/atthebeginningofsyllables,orisdroppedattheendofsyllables /q /isreplacedby/x/.

Vowels
Incontrasttoitsconsonants,Klingon'sinventoryofvowelsissimple,andsimilartothoseofmanyhuman languages,suchasSpanish.Therearefivevowelsspacedevenlyaroundthevowelspace,withtwoback roundedvowels,andtwofront,ornearfront,unroundedvowels.

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Thetwofrontvowels,eandI,representsoundsthatarefoundinEnglish,butaremoreopenandlaxthana typicalEnglishspeakermightassumewhenreadingKlingontextwrittenintheLatinalphabet,thuscausing theconsonantsofawordtobemoreprominent.ThisenhancesthesensethatKlingonisaclippedandharsh soundinglanguage. Vowels a//openbackunroundedvowel(inEnglishspa) e//openmidfrontunroundedvowel(inEnglishbed) I//nearclosenearfrontunroundedvowel(inEnglishbit) o/o/closemidbackroundedvowel(inFrencheau) u/u/closebackroundedvowel(inSpanishtu) Diphthongscanbeanalyzedphoneticallyasthecombinationofthefivevowelsplusoneofthetwo semivowels/w/and/j/(representedbywandy,respectively).Thus,thecombinationsay,ey,Iy,oy, uy,aw,ewandIwarepossible.TherearenowordsintheKlingonlanguagethatcontain*owor *uw.

Syllablestructure
Klingonfollowsastrictsyllablestructure.Asyllablemuststartwithaconsonant(whichincludestheglottal stop)followedbyonevowel.Inprefixesandotherraresyllables,thisisenough.Morecommonly,this consonantvowelpairisfollowedbyoneconsonantoroneofthreebiconsonantalcodas:/w'y'rgh/.Thus, ta"record",tar"poison"andtargh"targ"(atypeofanimal)arealllegalsyllableforms,but*tarDand*arare not.Despitethis,onesuffixtakestheshapevowel+consonant:theendearmentsuffixoy.

Stress
Inverbs,thestressedsyllableisusuallytheverbalstemitself,asopposedtoaprefixoranysuffixes,except whenasuffixendingwith'isseparatedfromtheverbbyatleastoneothersuffix,inwhichcasethesuffix endingin'isalsostressed.Inaddition,stressmayshifttoasuffixthatismeanttobeemphasized. Innouns,thefinalsyllableofthestem(thenounitself,excludinganyaffixes)isstressed.Ifanysyllables endingin'arepresent,thestressshiftstothosesyllables. Thestressinotherwordsseemstobevariable,butthisisnotaseriousissuebecausemostofthesewordsare onlyonesyllableinlength.Therearesomewordswhichshouldfallundertherulesabove,butdonot, althoughusingthestandardruleswouldstillbeacceptable.

Grammar
Mainarticle:Klingongrammar Klingonisanagglutinativelanguage,usingmainlyaffixesinordertoalterthefunctionormeaningofwords. Somenounshaveinherentlypluralforms,suchasjengva "plate"(vs.ngop"plates").Inothercases,asuffix isrequiredtodenoteplurality.Dependingonthetypeofnoun(bodypart,beingcapableofusinglanguage,or

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neither)thesuffixchanges.Forbeingscapableofusinglanguage,thesuffixispu,asintlhInganpu, meaning"Klingons,"orjaghpu,meaning"enemies".Forbodyparts,thepluralsuffixisDu,asinmInDu, "eyes".Foritemsthatareneitherbodyparts,norcapableofspeech,thesuffixismey,suchasinHovmey ("stars"),ortarghmey("targs")foraKlingonkindofboar.Incertaincases,however,thereisawordpartthat definesgender,althoughitisnotdefinedasasuffix.Thesefollowingwordsarecompoundnouns.Thewords puqloDandpuqbe (meaning"son"and"daughter"respectively)whenreferencedwithotherwords,imply thatloDmeans"male",wherebe isfemale(puqmeaning"child"). Klingonnounstakesuffixestoindicategrammaticalnumber.Therearethreenounclasses,twolevelsof deixis,andapossessionandsyntacticfunction.Inall,twentyninenounsuffixesfromfiveclassesmaybe employed:jupoypunawIvaD"formybelovedtruefriends".Awordmaycarrynomorethanonesuffixfrom eachclass,andtheclasseshaveaspecificorderofappearance.Afewsuffixes,called"rovers",areexempt fromthisorderrestrictionandhavetheirownindividualrulesforplacement.Forexample,be isanegating suffixthatimmediatelyfollowstheelementofthewordbeingnegated,whileQo isasuffixmeaning"don t!"andalwayscomesattheendoftheverbphrase,unlessitisfollowedbyaclass9suffix. VerbsinKlingontakeaprefixindicatingthenumberandpersonofthesubjectandobject,whereassuffixes aretakenfromnineorderedclasses,andaspecialsuffixclasscalledrovers.Eachofthefourknownrovers hasauniquerulecontrollingitspositionamongthesuffixesintheverb.Verbsaremarkedforaspect, certainty,predispositionandvolition,dynamic,causative,mood,negation,andhonorific,andtheKlingon verbhastwomoods:indicativeandimperative. ThemostcommonwordorderinKlingonisObjectVerbSubject,and,inmostcases,thewordorderisthe exactreverseofanalogouswordordersinEnglish:

D a Hm o j a q m e y v a mD I v u S n I S b e ' ' e ' v I H a r n o ws u f f i x P L D E M 1 P L . A . 3 P L . P l i m i t n e e d N E Gt h a t1 S G . A . 3 S G . P b e l i e v e " Ib e l i e v et h a tw ed on o tn e e dt ol i m i tt h e s es u f f i x e sn o w . "

Hyphensareusedintheaboveonlytoillustratetheuseofaffixes.HyphensarenotusedinKlingon. AnimportantdimensionofKlingongrammaristherealityofthelanguage'sungrammaticality.Anotable propertyofthelanguageisitsshorteningorcompressionofcommunicativedeclarations.Thisabbreviating featureencompassesthetechniquesofClippedKlingon(tlhInganHolpoDor,moresimply,HolpoD)and RitualizedSpeech.ClippedKlingonisespeciallyusefulinsituationswherespeedisadecisivefactor. Grammarisirrelevant,andsentencepartsdeemedtobesuperfluousaredropped.Intentionalungrammaticality iswidespread,andittakesmanyforms.ItisexemplifiedbythepracticeofpabHa ,whichMarcOkrand translatesas"tomisfollowtherules"or"tofollowtheruleswrongly".[30]

Writingsystems
Mainarticle:Klingonwritingsystems

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WhenwrittenintheLatinalphabet,Klingonisunusualinbeingcasesensitive,withsomeletterswrittenin capitalsandothersinlowercase.Inonecase,qandQ,thereisanactualcasesensitivepairrepresentingtwo differentconsonants.Capitalsaregenerallyreservedforuvularorretroflexconsonantspronouncedfurther backinthethroatthannormal,aswithD,H,Q,andS.Onecase,the vowelI(asini),iswrittencapitalfornoapparentreason,andcan poseproblemswhenwritingKlingoninnonseriffontssuchasArial, asitlooksalmostthesameastheconsonantl(asinL),andhasled someKlingonenthusiaststowriteitlowercase,asi,liketheother Qapla'(success) vowels.Toavoidthisproblem,aserifedfontthatclearlydistinguishes IandlsuchasCourierhastraditionallybeenemployedforwriting KlingonintheLatinalphabet. Klingonisoftenwritten(transliterated)totheLatinalphabetasusedabove,but,onthetelevisionseries,the Klingonsusetheirownalienwritingsystem.InTheKlingonDictionary,thisalphabetisnamedaspIqaD,but noinformationisgivenaboutit.WhenKlingonsymbolsareusedinStarTrekproductions,theyaremerely decorativegraphicelements,designedtoemulaterealwritingandcreateanappropriateatmosphere. EnthusiastshavesettledonthenamepIqaDforthiswritingsystem. TheAstraImageCorporationdesignedthesymbols(currentlyusedto"write"Klingon)forStarTrek:The MotionPicture,althoughthesesymbolsareoftenincorrectlyattributedtoMichaelOkuda.[31]Theybasedthe lettersontheKlingonbattlecruiserhullmarkings(threeletters)firstcreatedbyMattJefferiesandonTibetan writingbecausethescripthassharpletterformsusedasatestamenttotheKlingons'loveforknivesand blades. ForAprilFools'Dayin2013,NokiaandtypographycompanyDaltonMaagclaimedtohaveused "communicationdevicestofarflungstarsystems"[32]toassisttheminlocalisingtheNokiaPurefonttothe Klingonwritingsystem.Thoughtheexplanationwasofcoursehumorousinnature,aspartofthepractical jokeaseriesofrealfontsbaseduponthemostcommonlyusedpIqaDcharactermappingwereinfact developed,andhavebeenmadeavailableforfreedownload.[32]

Vocabulary
AdesignprincipleoftheKlingonlanguageisthegreatdegreeoflexicalculturalcorrelationinthevocabulary. Forexample,thereareseveralwordsmeaning"tofight"or"toclashagainst,"eachhavingadifferentdegree ofintensity.Thereisanabundanceofwordsrelatingtowarfareandweaponryandalsoagreatvarietyof curses(cursingisconsideredafineartinKlingonculture).Thishelpslendaparticularcharactertothe language. Therearealsomanyinjokesbuiltintothelanguage.[33]Forexample,thewordfor"pair"ischang'eng,a referencetothetwinsChangandEng,thewordfor"ritualizedtorturebywomen"is"be'joy",andtheword for"fish"isghotI'.

Examplesentences
tlhInganHolDajatlh'a'?

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DoyouspeakKlingon? jIyajbe'. Idon'tunderstand. DochvetlhvISoplaHbe'. Ican'teatthatthing. bIlughbe'. Youarewrong. bortaSbIrjablu'DI'reHQaQqu'nay'. Revengeisadishbestservedcold.(lit:Whencoldrevengeisserved,thedishisalwaysverygood) Heghlu'meHQaQjajvam. Todayisagooddaytodie. TheKLIhashostedwordplaycontests,withchallengestoinventnewKlingonphrasesusingnaturallanguage wordplaysuchaspalindromes,pangrams,andspoonerisms.[34]Winningsentencesinclude: jIlmoHghajjajjaghHomlIj. Mayyourrivalhaveanuglyneighbor. vIt'e'naDlalDan'e'tIv. Heenjoysreligionpraisingtruth. tlhab'oS'IwHoHwI'So'batlh. Bloodrepresentsfreedomhonorhidesthekiller. romuluSnganHolyIjatlh.He'So'QIchlIj. SpeakRomulan!Youraccentstinks. vavlI'quvSay'moHmeHnujbIQvIlo'chugh,nujbIQvIlammoH. IfIusespit(mouthwater)tocleanyourfather'shonor,Ionlydirtythespit. mo'Dajvo'pa'wIjDaqjenarghpu'He'So'boghSajlIj. Yourstinkingpethasescapedfromitscageandappearedinmyquarters. qajunpaQHeylIjmo'batlhDuSuvqangcharghwI''It. Becauseofyourapparentaudacitythedepressedconqueroriswillingtofightyou. nobwI''a'pu'qoqvam'e'nuHegh'eghrupqa'moHlaHbe'law'lI'neSSeH'eghtaHghach'a'na'chajmo'. Thesocalledgreatbenefactorsareseeminglyunabletocauseustopreparetoresumehonorablesuicide (inprogress)duetotheirdefiniteselfcontrol. be'HomDu'na'wIjtIq'a'Du'na'vaDghureghqangqa'moHlaHqu'be'taH'a'Somraw'a'meyna'wIj'e'. Isitnotthatmymany,large,scatteredmusclesarequitecapableofswellingforthebenefitofthehearts ofmanyscatteredgirls?

Seealso
Alienlanguage Klingonculture Klingongrammar KlingonLanguageInstitute Stovokor,adeathmetalbandwhoselyricsarewritteninKlingon u,thefirstKlingonopera

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Notes
1. ^AccordingtoLawrenceSchoen,directoroftheKLI.Wired4.08:Dejpu'boghHovrurqablli!* (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.08/es.languages.html?pg=4&topic=) 2. ^ a b cOkrand,MarkAdams,MichaelHendriksHermans,JudithKroon,Sjaak(December1,2011)."Wildand WhirlingWords:TheInventionandUseofKlingon".InAdams,Michael. FromElvishtoKlingon:Exploring InventedLanguages.OxfordUniversityPress.pp.111134.ISBN9780192807090. 3. ^Okrent,Arika. IntheLandofInventedLanguages.Spiegel&Grau,2009,pp.266267.ISBN9780385 527880 4. ^McIntyre,Vonda(1984). StarTrekIII:TheSearchforSpock.PocketBooks.p.272.ISBN0671495003. 5. ^LisaNapoli(October7,2004)."OnlineDiary:tlhInganmaH!" (http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html? res=9A0CEFD8163BF934A35753C1A9629C8B63&fta=y). NewYorkTimes. 6. ^"NAU.edu"(http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_9.html).Jan.ucc.nau.edu.Retrieved20131211. 7. ^There'sNoKlingonWordfor Hello(http://www.slate.com/id/2217815), Slatemagazine,May7,2009. Retrieved20090508. 8. ^AnattributiontoOkrandmaybefoundinthemuseumdisplaysattheSanJuanBautista,CaliforniaState HistoricPark,whichincludesashortmentionofthelocalMutsunnativepeoplewhomOkrandstudiedforhis thesis. 9. ^Okrent2009,pp.270271 10. ^"ButwhataboutspeakersinthesenseofpeoplewhocancarryonaspontaneousliveconversationinKlingon? (...)Iwouldsay,oh,twentyorso.Maybethirty."ArikaOkrent.IntheLandofInventedLanguages.NewYork (Spiegel&Grau).2010,p.273. 11. ^"tlhInganHolArchive,August13,2012"(http://kli.org/tlhInganHol/2012/August/msg00112.html).Kli.org. 20120813.Retrieved20131211. 12. ^Earthlings:UglyBagsofMostlyWater,MostlyWaterLLC,2004(http://www.earthlingsmovie.com/). Retrieved20091127. 13. ^Dean,Eddie(19960809)."KlingonasaSecondLanguageDArmondSpeersTeachesHisSonanAlien Tongue,WashingtonCityPaper,August9,1996"(http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/10873/klingon asasecondlanguage).Washingtoncitypaper.com.Retrieved20131211. 14. ^Fry'sPlanetWord,BBCTV,2011. 15. ^"BabbleOnRevisited,Wired,Issue7.08,August1999" (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/mustread.html?pg=8).Wired.com.20090104.Retrieved20131211. 16. ^"tlhInganHolyejHaDqep'a'|Informationaboutthe2013ConferenceoftheKlingonLanguageInstitute" (http://www.speakklingon.info).Speakklingon.info.20130313.Retrieved20131211. 17. ^"KlingonClassesforEveryone"(http://www.qephom.de/e/nextqephom.html).www.qepHom.de.Retrieved 20131211. 18. ^FilmReview(http://articles.boston.com/20110318/ae/29350706_1_zombiecomedymoviepeggandfrost), TheBostonGlobe,2011318,accessed2011725. 19. ^"Frasieronlinedetailsofseason10,episode6"(http://www.frasieronline.co.uk/episodeguide/season10/ep6.htm). Frasieronline.co.uk.Retrieved20131211. 20. ^KlingonChristmasCarolbroughttothestage (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8215826/KlingonChristmasCarolbroughttothe stage.html), TheTelegraph,20101221,accessed20101223. 21. ^Marks,Peter(August29,2010)."Tobeam,ornottobeam?". WashingtonPost.p.E1. 22. ^Holt,A.J.(1995). Watchme.NewYork:St.Martin'sPress.p.73.ISBN0312136145."QaStaHvlSwa'ramloS SaDHughSlijlaH[sic]qetboghloD(Fourthousandthroatsmaybecutinonenightbyarunningman.)" 23. ^Klingoninterface(http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xxklingon)atGoogle

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24. ^stripofJanuary12,2003(http://somethingpositive.net/sp01122003.shtml)Thephraseis"joH'a''oHwIjDevwI' jIHDIchDaqHutlhpagh"(Yahwehismyshepherd:Ishalllacknothing.) 25. ^"LanguageLog"Don'tyouknowit'snotjusttheEskimo""(http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3558). Languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu.Retrieved20131211. 26. ^KlingonasLinguisticCapital,YensWahlgren,June2000 (http://www.angelfire.com/trek/yensw/PDF/thesis.pdf).Retrieved20091127. 27. ^MarcOkrand, KlingonfortheGalacticTraveler,Simon&Schuster,1997. 28. ^KLIWiki, Canonsources(http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?canonical%20sources).Retrieved20091127. 29. ^Okrand,Marc(1997). KlingonfortheGalacticTraveller.NewYork:PocketBooks.pp.1824.ISBN978 0671009953. 30. ^MarcOkrand, KlingonfortheGalacticTraveler.Simon&Schuster,1997. 31. ^SymbolsattributedtoOkuda:theKlingonLanguageInstitute's KlingonFAQ(editedbyd'ArmondSpeers), question2.13(http://web.archive.org/web/20041012093544/http://higbee.cots.net/~holtej/klingon/faq.htm#2.13) byWillMartin(August18,1994).Symbols incorrectlyattributedtoOkuda:KLIfounderLawrenceM.Schoen's "OnOrthography"(PDF)(http://www.kli.org/pdf/Orthography.pdf),citingJ.Lee's"AnInterviewwithMichael Okuda"intheKLI'sjournal HolQed1.1(March1992),p.11.SymbolsactuallydesignedbyAstraImage Corporation:MichaelEverson'sProposal... [3] 32. ^ a bNokia2013.PureKlingon(http://brandbook.nokia.com/blog/view/item80143/) 33. ^PunsintheVocabularyoftlhInganHol(http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php? Puns%20in%20the%20Vocabulary%20of%20tlhIngan%20Hol),Retrieved20091127. 34. ^"KlingonWordplayContests"(http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Wordplay%20Contests).Kli.org. 20040507.Retrieved20131211.

References
BernardComrie,1995,"ThePaleoKlingonnumeralsystem".HolQeD4.4:610. KlingonConScriptUnicodeRegistry(CSUR)(http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/klingon.html) pIqaDSupport(http://www.wizage.net/?p=399) Klingon(pIqaD)Unicodefont(http://mughom.wizage.net/pIqaD.zip) Klingontextconverter(transliteration)(http://yellowantphil.com/pIqaD_converter.html)

Externallinks
KlingonLanguageInstitute(http://www.kli.org/) KlingonskaAkademien(http://www.klingonska.org/) qepHomSaarbrcken(http://www.qephom.de)ThelargestannualKlingonLanguageMeetingin Europe LearnKlingonEuroTalk(http://eurotalk.com/klingon),EuroTalk'sKlingonlanguagehomepage HomepageoftlhInganQummem(http://www.tlhInganQummem.com)fromqe'Santranslatorwho workedwithMarcOkrandontheTalkNow!LearnKlingonlanguagecoursefromEuroTalk KlingonanditsUser:ASociolinguisticProfile(http://www.judion.de/klingon),asociolinguisticsMA thesis KlingonasLinguisticCapital:ASociologicStudyofNineteenAdvancedKlingonists(PDF) (http://www.angelfire.com/trek/yensw/PDF/thesis.pdf) IsKlingonanOhloneanlanguage?AcomparisonofMutsunandKlingon

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(http://www.cs.vu.nl/~dick/Summaries/Languages/MutsunKlingonComparison.pdf) Omniglot:KlingonAlphabet(http://www.omniglot.com/writing/klingon.htm) EatoniErgonomics'Klingonpage(http://www.eatoni.com/wiki/index.php/Klingon)includesBDF, TTFfontsandaKlingontextentrydemo paq'batlh:TheKlingonEpic(http://www.uitgeverij.cc/publications/paqbatlh/) Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Klingon_language&oldid=588898860" Categories: LanguageswithISO6392code Klingonlanguage Agglutinativelanguages Constructedlanguages Fictionallanguages Objectverbsubjectlanguages Thispagewaslastmodifiedon3January2014at01:05. TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmay apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy. WikipediaisaregisteredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

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