129 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
129 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Current knowledge of klingonaase is limited to the phrases dropped in John
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Ford's "The Final Reflection." Note the lower-case: the Klingons don't
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capitalize language names. The suffix -aase does not quite equate to -ese;
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it has a connotation of worldview, or world-manipulating tool.
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Klingonaase is a sparse language, like Chinese in that 'a' and 'the'
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are absent or optional, and subjects and verbs can be omitted when context
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renders them unnecessary. There is an even briefer verbal shorthand used
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as "battle language."
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There are not sufficient examples to deduce the rules of grammar and verb
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conjugation. The plural suffix, however, is -i, as in kleoni, komerexi.
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Klingonaase vocabulary:
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federazhon The United Federation of Planets.
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fedegonaase UFP standard language, whatever that is.
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gagny Damned.
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g'dayt Undefined adjectives (gerunds?), roughly equivalent
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g'daya to "damned," but probably stronger.
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kaase Hand.
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Kahlesste kaase! "Kahless' hand," an oath referring to the story of the
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Emperor Kahless, who died with his hand tied to the
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controls of his ship in a battle against Romulans.
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kai Hail, or "long live". Used often, as "Kai <noun>".
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kai kassai The same, emphasized. "Kai kassai, Klingon!"
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khesterex Literally, "the structure which dies."
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khest To screw up.
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khesterex thath Screwed up situation.
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kherx A screw-up.
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parkhest Damn!
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khest'n Apparently interchangable adjectives, roughly equal
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khest't to "damned."
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kleon Enemy, or opponent. Same, to a Klingon.
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klin That which is Klingon. One can be 'full of klin,'
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i.e., a worthy Klingon.
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Klingon Klingon. Noun only, I think.
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Klinzhai The Klingon homeworld -- not called 'Klingon'!
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klingonaase The Klingonese language.
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komerex Literally, "the structure which grows." Overtones
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of "path," or even "Tao."
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komerex Klingon The Klingon Empire.
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komerex zha See 'zha' below.
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kuve Servitor; alternative translation is slave.
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kuvekhestat Worthless slave(s). See 'khest' above.
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kuveleta Half-slave; an insult. Klingons mix races freely,
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but have cultural prejudices against some.
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kuvesa tokhesa "I serve willingly."
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tharkuve Deaf slave, unable to overhear secret conferences.
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tharavul Vulcan servitor, lobotomized to remove the Vulcan's
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telepathic powers. This is done voluntarily.
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nal Negating word -- as, "Nal komerex, khesterex."
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straave, straav' Slave.
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tokhe straav' Willing slave. Just about the worst insult one can
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call a Klingon.
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tai Worthy, honored.
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epetai-zana Honored and exalted one.
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tai-kleon Worthy opponent. See 'kleon' above.
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Various forms of 'tai' are used to separate a given
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name from a line name. Distinctions between these
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are not clear, and all are honorifics added to the
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name during a career. Examples:
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Krenn sutai-Rustazh
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Kethas epetai-Khemara
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Mabli vestai-Galann
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Kezhke zantai-Adion
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Khidri tai-Gensa
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Note: Given name starting with 'K' is an honorific,
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of unspecified use. When Vrenn was promoted to
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Captain, he was able to change his name to Krenn.
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teskas Compliments, praise.
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teskas tal'tai-kleon Compliments to a worthy opponent.
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tokhe Willing. See 'straave' and 'kuve' above.
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vird'dakaase Disruptor. Literally, "shake-till-falls-apart tool."
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Note the -aase (or -kaase) suffix.
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zan Neutral title of respect; roughly equal to Mister.
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Don't recall seeing it used to women.
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zha Game.
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klin zha The Klingon game (in several variations).
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klin zha kinta The Klingon game with living pieces.
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hum zha The Human game, chess.
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rom zha The Romulan game, latrunculo.
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komerex zha The perpetual game -- life. See 'komerex' above.
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zha riest'n [It was a] pleasant game.
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There are several usages from which I can't reliably deduce what means
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what, and why. These follow:
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sa tel'ren Two out of three. One can't assume sa=2 and ren=3.
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humanai kuvest' Either "human slave" or "slave of the humans."
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tokhest' From context, "if he is willing or not." Your guess
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is as good as mine how much of that is in the -st',
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and how much is implied.
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komerex tel khesterex This was an interjection, probably "grow or die."
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And that is all the klingonaase codified at present. I'm not certain how
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closely this vocabulary corresponds to the dialogue in ST:TMP; any major
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discrepancy is explainable by the fact that they were speaking the "battle
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language" dialect in those scenes. Read John Ford's "The Final Reflection"
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to see these phrases in action, and to learn a measure of healthy respect
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for the komerex klingon.
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--
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Stewart Wiener :-) "Read and weep as did Alexander
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Princeton Univ. EECS :-) when he beheld the glories of
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princeton!tilt!smw :-) Egypt." --G. Roddenberry
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