An Introduction to the Klingon Language Par

************************************************************ * An Introduction to the Klingon Language * * * * Part 4: Nouns and Suffixes * * * * * ************************************************************ This text file deals with Klingon nouns and their use. Before continuing, it should be noted that a complete description of Klingon grammar is virtually impossible due to both it's complex nature and lack of resources. However, this guide should cover enough areas for the student of Klingonaase to be able to understand what a Klingon is saying, and be able to communicate back, albeit in a brutish, yet intelligible manner. Most Klingons, however, will notice know the difference, unless some breach of conduct is in addition. Essentially, there are three basic parts of Klingon grammar that will be discussed here: Nouns, Verbs, and Everything Else... NOUNS There are various types of nouns in Klingonaase. Simple nouns, Complex nouns, and Compound nouns. Simple nouns are nouns made up of one-syllable words, such as DoS (target). Complex nouns are are formed from two, sometimes three syllables that separately have no meaning, or their separate meanings have no relationships to the complex noun. For example, lurDech (tradition) can be broken into lur (pupil of eye) and Dech (surround), but the definitions are not the same when the word is combined. Again, the differences may indeed be attributed to dialectic accommodation to alien words and phrases, but without further research materials this can only be speculation at this time. The third type of noun, the Compound noun, consists of two, three, and even four nouns in a row, yet grammatically combined together into 'one' word. An English example of course is earthworm, while in Klingonaase one such example is jolpa' (transporter room), which is formed from jol (transport beam) and pa' (room). Another form of Complex noun consists of a noun followed by a verb whose meaning is 'one who does' or 'thing that does'. This is roughly similar to the Galactic/English suffix '-er', as in 'builder'. In Klingonaase, the suffix is -wI'. An example of this is baHwI' (gunner), which is formed from baH (fire ) and -wI' (one who does). Ergo, baHwI' is literally 'one who fires .' Similarly, So'wI' (cloaking device) comes from So' (cloak) and -wI' (that which does), and is literally 'thing which cloaks'. Complex -wI nouns area also formed from verbs by adding the -wI suffix, as in the Rumaiym word toy'wI' (servant), which is derived from toy' (to serve) and -wI'. -wI' nouns can also be used with another noun to form a new Compound noun. For example, the Klingonaase word tIjwI'ghom (boarding party) comes from tIjwI' (boarder - tIj + -wI' ) and ghom (group). SUFFIXES All nouns, wheter Simple, Compound or Complex, may be followed by one or more suffixes. If there are two or more suffixes, they must occur in a specific order. Suffixes may be calssified on the basis of their relative order after the noun. There are five classes of suffixes, and for ease of demonstration they will be referred to as Suffixes 1-5. They take on the following form of order when used with a noun: NOUN-1-2-3-4-5 In each case where a noun is followed by more that one suffix, each of the suffixes must follow the noun in the same order as their class. That is, a moun followed by a class 2, 3 and 5 suffix would have those suffixes arranged in that order. In the case of a noun with only one suffix, class order has, of course, no effect. Of each of the five suffix types, there are at least two suffixes. No two suffixes from the same type class may be used at the same time within the same noun. Which is to say that a noun cannot be followed by two, three or four class 3 suffixes. The members of each suffix class are as follows: *** Type 1 - Augmentative/Diminutive *** -'a' augmentative. This suffix indicates that what the noun refers to is bigger, more important, or more powerful than it would be without the suffix ex: Sus (wind/breeze) --> Sus'a' (strong wind) Qagh (mistake) --> Qagh'a' (major blunder!) woQ (power) --> woQ'a' (ultimate power) -Hom diminutive. This is the opposite of the diminutive suffix. it indicates that what the noun refers to is smaller, less important, or less powerful than it would be without the suffix. ex: SuS (wind/breeze) --> SuSHom (wisp of air) roj (peace) --> rojHom (short truce) *** Type 2 - Number *** -pu' This is a plural suffix for beings capable of using language or possessing intelligence. It is not used for lower forms of life, or any non-living item. ex: yaS (officer) --> yaSpu' (officers) -Du' This is plural for body parts of any living being regardless of the height of development. In Klingonii/Klinzhaii dialect this can refer to small devices, as well as the ambulatory parts of manufacturing machines, androids and robotic units. ex: tlhon (nostril) --> tlhonDu' (nostrils) -mey This is a general usage plural suffix. This can be used on any noun except those referring to body parts. ex: yuQ (planet) --> yuQmey (planets) It also should be noted that this rule is violated quite frequently in Klingon prose in such words like tlhonmey (nostrils scattered all over the place!). Still, the useage of such suffixes outside of normal rules is not completely understood, and it is strongly urged that all students of Klingonaase stick to the rules until further understandings are made availiable. Suffixes are not the only way that nouns are made plural. In Klingonaase, a noun without a suffix can be made plural by the use of a pronoun, whether a verb prefix (see PART 5: VERBS) or a full word (see PART 6: OTHER WORDS). Since the use of pronouns can become confusing, as certain pronouns have two or more possible meanings. Luckily, it is never incorrect to add a plural suffix to a noun referring to more than one entity, so long as the pronoun involved ,as wel as the object in question, are also plural. Finally, there are certain nouns that are already plural in nature, and therefore never require a suffix. Their singular counterparts are distinct from the plurals as well: SINGULAR PLURAL DoS (target) ray' (targets) peng (torpedo) cha (torpedoes) vIj (thruster) chuyDaH (thrusters) Inherently plural nouns are treated grammatically as singular nouns in that singular pronouns are used to refer to them. *** TYPE 3 - QUALIFICATION *** Suffixes of this type indicate the speaker's attitude toward the noun, or or how sure the speaker is that the noun is being used properly. -qoq so-called. This suffix indicates that the noun is being used in a false or ironic fashion. -Hey apparant. This suffix indicates that the user is pretty sure the object referred to by the noun is accurately described by the noun, but has some doubts. -na' definite. This is the counterpart of -Hey. It indicates that there is no doubt in the speaker's mind as to the accuracy of his/her choice of words. *** 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.