Body parts (eyes, hands, hearts, etc.) have a special plural in Klingon: they are pluralized not with -mey or -pu' but with -Du', e.g. mInDu' eyes, nItlhDu' fingers, tIqDu' hearts.

As always, the plural suffix is optional.

Except for the separate plural ending, they act grammatically like other inanimate objects, e.g. using 'oH it and bIH them, rather than ghaH he/she and chaH them and using the regular possessive endings (ending in j) such as -wIj my.

Cultural note: Klingons have built-in redundancy in their internal organs so that if, for example, one liver should fail due to injury or disease, the other one can keep on working. This means that many body parts for which humans have only one, Klingons have in pairs.

Klingons also possess a body part that is not spoken about in polite company: the qIvon, about which little is known among other races besides its name and the fact that some (or perhaps all) Klingons seem to have more than one. The qIvon is featured in some common Klingon phrases, but don't expect to ever get a Klingon to show you, or even tell you about, his qIvonDu' unless you get to know him extremely well.

The saying bIrchugh qIvon tuj 'Iw literally translates as, If the qIvon is cold, the blood is hot, but seems to mean something like, Even when a Klingon does not seem so, he is always ready for battle.

The idiom bel qIvon is often used with kids and seems to refer to going to the bathroom. One might ask a kid, belHa"a' qIvonlIj? Is your qIvon displeased? or excuse themselves from the room with qIvonwIj vIbelnISmoH I must please my qIvon.

Vocabulary

porgh – body (n)

qab – face (n)

ghaj – possess, have (v)

rur – resemble, be like (v)

SoSlI' – your mother (n)

vavlI' – your father (n)