Klingon is a well established nerd language, and therefore we should note that it has been evolving as a language as more people learn it.
Thus we should point out that "Old School Klingon" differs considerably from what I consider to be "New Age Klingon", which tends to break rules more often. The problem with Old School Klingon is that not everything is established to be a rule, and therefore the language is open to interpretation.
Some Klingon purists will consider this list to be misinformation, but I feel it is just a bit of fun and that rules are made to be broken. Especially when it comes to names.
Eg. Ga-Hoh-Chuq translates roughly to "I kill one another." Sounds like a fun Klingon name to me!
1. Prefixes
Prefix | Meaning |
|---|---|
bI- | You act; no object specified |
bo- | You (plural) act upon him, her, it, or them |
Da- | You (singular) act upon him, her, it, or them |
jI- | I act; no object specified |
lu- | They act upon him, her, it, or them |
ma- | We act; no object specified |
mu- | He, she, it, or they act upon me |
qa- | I act upon you (singular) |
Su- | You (plural) act; no object specified |
vI- | I act upon him, her, it, or them |
wI- | We act upon him, her, it, or them |
2. Middle words
Klingon | Meaning |
|---|---|
batlh | Honour |
be' | Woman |
betleH | Bat'leth, a traditional Klingon weapon |
Duj | Ship; instinct |
ghIj | Frighten |
HoH | Kill |
jagh | Enemy |
jup | Friend |
loD | Man |
may' | Battle |
mu' | Word |
nuH | Weapon |
Qapla' | Success |
QI' | Military; army |
qorDu' | Family |
qu' | Be fierce |
Suv | Fight |
SuvwI' | Warrior; fighter |
taj | Knife |
tlhIngan | Klingon |
tlhIngan Hol | Klingon language |
tuq | House; lineage |
vay' | Someone; something |
wo' | Empire |
yaS | Officer |
yan | Sword |
yuch | Chocolate |
3. Suffixes
Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
-'a' | Augmentative; something large or significant (noun suffix) |
-'e' | Topic marker; emphasizes a noun |
-'egh | Indicates an action directed at oneself (verb suffix) |
-be' | Negation; not |
-bogh | Which; who; that (verb suffix forming a relative clause) |
-chaj | Their (noun possession suffix) |
-chugh | If (verb suffix) |
-chuq | Each other; one another (verb suffix) |
-Daj | His, her, or its (noun possession suffix) |
-Daq | At; in; on (location marker) |
-DI' | When; as soon as (verb suffix) |
-Du' | Plural suffix for body parts |
-Ha' | Undo; reverse an action (verb suffix) |
-Hom | Diminutive; something small (noun suffix) |
-jaj | May it happen; let it happen (verb suffix expressing a wish) |
-lIj | Your (singular) (noun possession suffix) |
-laH | Can; be able to (verb suffix) |
-lu' | Indefinite subject; roughly, someone or something does the action |
-ma' | Our (noun possession suffix) |
-maj | Our (noun possession suffix; used with a different noun category) |
-mey | General plural suffix |
-meH | For the purpose of; in order to (verb suffix) |
-mo' | Because of (noun or verb suffix, depending on use) |
-moH | Cause something to happen; make or cause (verb suffix) |
-nIS | Need to; must (verb suffix) |
-pu' | Plural suffix for beings capable of language; also a perfective verb suffix |
-qang | Be willing to (verb suffix) |
-qu' | Emphasis; very (verb suffix) |
-raj | Your (plural) (noun possession suffix) |
-taH | Continuing action; still doing something (verb suffix) |
-vaD | For; intended for (noun marker) |
-vIp | Be afraid to (verb suffix) |
-vo' | From; away from (noun marker) |
-wI' | One who does something; also a possessive suffix in the appropriate noun context |
-wIj | My (noun possession suffix) |
