Conlang Relay 12/Klingon

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This page contains details on the Klingon portion of Conlang Relay 12.

Text

yIbej! jatlh vay'!

loDnal 
Qapla'! yIyoH!
ghojmoq 
yIyuvtaH, chaj, yIyuvtaH!
ghojmoq 
ghu nach vIleghlaH, chaj. tlhoS Data'pu'. yIyuvqa', chaj, yIyuvtaH!
loDnal 
Qapla'! yIyoH!
ghojmoq 
narghbejpu' nach.
ghu 
toH. Daqvam vIlegh not 'e' vIQub.
ghojmoq 
ghuy'cha'!
be'nal 
qaS nuq?
ghojmoq 
yIqImHa'! yIyuvqa', chaj, yIyuvtaH!
loDnal 
Qapla'! yIyoH!
ghu 
jIHvaD Sut yItuQmoH! roD Sut Doj wItuQ.
be'nal 
jatlhtaH 'Iv?
ghu 
HI'Ij, SoS. puqloDlI' jIH. pong "qonnor" vIpar. 'Iq pongvam lughajbogh ghot'e'.
be'nal 
wItojlu'law'. chay' jatlh loDHom?
ghojmoq 
DaH SoS ghu je rarbogh tlhegh'e' vIpe'ta'.
ghu 
Heghpu'bogh SuvwI' vISov. "petroS" 'oH pongDaj'e'. QaQ pongvam. jIHvaD "petroS" yIpong!
ghu 
jI'oj, 'ach rolIjDaq jItlhutlhQo'.
ghojmoq 
yIvIHQo', petroS.
ghu 
Hut wen, 'Iw HIq vItlhutlh.
loDnal 
Qapla'! yIyoH!

jaj veb, ghItlh ja'wI', jatlh: "boghpu' jatlhlaHbogh ghu! Suto'vo'qor Del."

Smooth translation

Look! Someone is talking!

Husband 
Success! Be brave!
Nurse 
Push, dear, push!
Nurse 
I can see the baby's head, dear. You have nearly accomplished it. Push again, dear, push!
Husband 
Success! Be brave!
Nurse 
The head has definitely appeared.
Baby 
Well. I never thought I would see this place.
Nurse 
*@$%!
Wife 
What's happening?
Nurse 
Pay no attention! Push again, dear, push!
Husband 
Success! Be brave!
Baby 
Put clothes on me! I used to wear impressive clothing.
Wife 
Who's talking?
Baby 
Listen to me, mother! I'm your son. I dislike the name "Kon'nor". There are too many people who have that name.
Wife 
Somebody seems to be tricking us. How does the boy speak?
Nurse 
I have now successfully cut through the cord which connects the mother and the child.
Baby 
I know a dead warrior; his name was "Pet'rosh". That name is good. Call me "Pet'rosh"!
Baby 
I am thirsty, but I refuse to drink at your torso.
Nurse 
Don't move, Pet'rosh.
Baby 
Nine months ago, I drank bloodwine.
Husband 
Success! Be brave!

The next day, a reporter wrote, saying: "A baby that could speak was born! It described Sto-vo-kor."

Lexicon

Suffixes

-'e'  
(nsuff) topic. Also marks the head noun in relative clauses and in "to be" constructions.
-Daj  
(nsuff) his/her/its (3rd singular possessive)
-Daq  
(nsuff) locative: in/at/on/by
-Qo'  
(vsuff) with imperatives: "don't (verb)"; otherwise: "(subject) refuses to (verb)"
-bej  
(vsuff) certainly, undoubtedly
-bogh 
(vsuff) relative clause marker
-lI'  
(nsuff) thy (2nd singular possessive, animate possession)
-lIj  
(nsuff) thy (2nd singular possessive, inanimate possession)
-laH  
(vsuff) be able to, can
-law' 
(vsuff) apparently; it seems that ...
-lu'  
(vsuff) indefinite subject/pseudo-passive. See grammar sketch.
-pu'  
(vsuff) marks perfective aspect
-qa'  
(vsuff) "again". Using this suffix implies that an action had been taking place, then it stopped, and then it began again.
-ta'  
(vsuff) marks perfective aspect; implies that the result of the verb was on purpose or that the activity was deliberately undertaken, the implication being that someone set out to do something and in fact did it. (The difference between -pu' and -ta' is not necessarily reflected in an English translation.)
-taH  
(vsuff) marks continuous aspect; indicates that an action is ongoing.
-vaD  
(nsuff) for, for the benefit of, on behalf of; used for indirect objects.
-vam  
(nsuff) this (demonstrative; indicates something near or that has been a recent topic of conversation)

Prefixes

Da- 
subject = thou, object = him/her/it/them
HI- 
(imperative) subject = thou/you, object = me
jI- 
subject = I, no object
lu- 
subject = they, object = him/her/it
vI- 
subject = I, object = him/her/it/them
wI- 
subject = we, object = him/her/it
yI- 
(imperative) subject = thou/you, object = him/her/it or no object
(zero) 
subject = him/her/it, object = him/her/it/them or no object; subject = they, object = them or no object

Words

be'nal 
n. wife
bej 
v. watch
bogh 
v. be born
chaj 
n. dear (term of affection used between two women who are very close friends)
chay' 
adv. how?
DaH 
adv. now
Daq 
n. location
Del 
v. describe
Doj 
adj. impressive
ghaj 
v. to have, possess
ghItlh 
v. to write
ghojmoq 
n. nurse
ghot 
n. person
ghu 
n. baby
ghuy'cha' 
interj. *@$% (used, for example, after hearing something unsettling)
Hegh 
v. die
HIq 
(see 'Iw HIq)
Hut 
num. nine
ja'wI' 
n. reporter
jaj 
n. day
jatlh 
v. speak, say
je 
conj. and (*follows* the terms to be joined)
jIH 
pron. I; v. I am
legh 
v. see
loDHom 
n. boy
loDnal 
n. husband
nach 
n. head
nargh 
v. escape; appear
not 
adv. never
nuq 
pron. what?
par 
v. dislike
pe' 
v. cut
petroS 
proper n. A name, Petrosh
pong 
n. name; v. name (DO = name, IO = named thing)
puqloD 
n. son
Qapla' 
interj. Success! (also used as a farewell or as encouragement)
QaQ 
adj. good
qaS 
v. happen, occur
qImHa' 
v. disregard, pay no attention (to)
qonnor 
proper n. A name, Kon'nor
Qub 
v. think
rar 
v. connect
ro 
n. torso, trunk (of the body), chest
roD 
adv. usually, customarily, habitually
SoS 
n. mother
Sov 
v. know
Sut 
n. clothing
Suto'vo'qor 
proper n. Sto-vo-kor; Klingon afterlife for the honoured dead, where all true warriors go after they die to fight an eternal battle. The closest Klingon equivalent to heaven.
SuvwI' 
n. warrior
ta' 
v. accomplish
tlhegh 
n. rope, line
tlhoS 
adv. almost, nearly
tlhutlh 
v. drink
toH 
interj. So! Well!
toj 
v. trick, deceive
tuQ 
v. wear (clothing)
tuQmoH 
v. put on (clothing) (DO = clothing; IO = person clothed)
vay' 
pron. someone, something
veb 
adj. next, following (in a series or sequence)
vIH 
v. move, be in motion
wen 
n. months ago
yoH 
v. be brave
yuv 
v. push
'Ij 
v. listen (to)
'Iq 
v. be too many, be too much
'Iv 
pron. who?
'Iw HIq 
n. bloodwine (an alcoholic drink typically drunk by warriors)
'ach 
conj. but
'e' 
pron. that (refers to a preceding sentence which is the object of this verb's sentence; see grammar)
'oH 
pron. it; v. it is
'oj 
v. be thirsty

Grammar sketch

  • Klingon has an OVS sentence structure. Adverbs and temporal/locative/ indirect object phrases come at the very beginning of a clause.
  • Verbs have a prefix which indicates subject and object as well as mood (indicative vs imperative). A special case is the null prefix, which indicates a third-person subject and either no object or a third-person object (except for the combination 3pl subject/3sg object, which has the prefix lu-). For example, legh see could mean "he sees her", "they see", or "she sees them", among other things.
  • Verbs can take a number of suffixes, which fall into certain classes. Specifics are not important here, except for the fact that suffixes must occur in a certain order, depending on the class of each suffix; this order may or may not correspond to the "natural" order that the translations would take in English (e.g. poSnISmoH need to open from poS be open + -moH causative + -nIS need, but with suffix order -nISmoH not -moHnIS).
  • Verbs are optionally marked for aspect (continuous or perfective) but are not marked for tense. An unmarked verb may have a past, present, or future interpretation, which must be determined from context. Even a verb with a perfective suffix need not refer to a past event.
  • Relative clauses use the marker -bogh on the verb in the subordinate cluase. If it is not clear whether the head of the subordinate clause is the subject or the object of that clause, the head may be made explicit by attaching the topic marker -'e' to the head.
  • Nouns can also takes suffixes, which also come in classes. The ones used in this text should be fairly self-explanatory.
  • Two nouns next to one another modify one another in the order modifier-modified, e.g. qun paq history book from qun history + paq book, or qeylIS betleH Kahless's bat'leth, from qeylIS Kahless (proper name) + betleH bat'leth (type of weapon).
  • Pronouns can function like nouns (I, thou, he, etc.) or as verbs (I am, thou art, he is, etc.). A special case is the "to be" sentence for a third-person subject, which consists of object + 3rd person pronoun + subject noun with topic marker -'e' (e.g. Qel ghaH loDvam'e' this man is/was a doctor, from Qel doctor, ghaH he (is), loDvam'e' this man (top.).
  • Reported speech always uses the verb jatlh speak, talk, say, possibly in connection with a different verb of speech such as ghItlh write or jang reply. For example, "He replied, 'I will not kill him'" would be jang, jatlh: «vIHoHQo'» -- literally: "He replied; he said, 'I will not kill him'".
  • Sentences can take previous sentences as objects; in this case, the previous sentence is replaced with the special pronoun 'e'. Any adverbials etc. precede this object, as they do other objects. For example, paq DalaDpu' wej 'e' vIHar I do not yet believe that you have read the book (paq book, DalaDpu' you have read it (perf.), wej not yet, 'e' that (refers back to previous sentence as an object), vIHar I believe it). NB do not confuse the pronoun 'e' with the noun suffix -'e' (topic marker). (The first always stands alone; the second is always attached to a word.)
  • It may be easiest first to identify the main verb in each clause; anything before it is adverbs, temporal/locative/indirect object phrases, or the object of the verb; anything after it is the subject. If the subject or the object is a relative clause, next identify whether the subordinate verb has anything before or after it, indicating the object and/or subject of the subordinate clause. If the second sentence uses the sentence-as-object pronoun 'e', try to determine where the first sentence ends (e.g. by looking for adverbials etc. which must come at the beginning of a sentence).
  • Verbs with -lu' indicate an unknown or unspecified subject. In such cases, the prefixes take on a different meaning; with subject and object trading places. For example, Da- (which usually means "you - him/her/it/them") means "someone/something - you", e.g. Daleghlu' someone sees you. Such verbs can sometimes be translated as passives; in the example, "You are seen".