tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 24 14:12:51 1995
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Klingonaase
- From: "Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Klingonaase
- Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 17:12:49 -0500
Here's that file, ftp://gandalf.rutgers.edu/pub/sfl/klingonaase.txt, that
I mentioned, for folks who have trouble getting it from ftp.
Enjoy.
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Date: 24 May 1984 14:36-EDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: Learn to speak klingonaase in one easy lesson!
ReSent-date: 29 May 84 11:12:28 EDT
ReSent-from: Saul <[email protected]>
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Current knowledge of klingonaase is limited to the phrases dropped in John
Ford's "The Final Reflection." Note the lower-case: the Klingons don't
capitalize language names. The suffix -aase does not quite equate to -ese;
it has a connotation of worldview, or world-manipulating tool.
Klingonaase is a sparse language, like Chinese in that 'a' and 'the'
are absent or optional, and subjects and verbs can be omitted when context
renders them unnecessary. There is an even briefer verbal shorthand used
as "battle language."
There are not sufficient examples to deduce the rules of grammar and verb
conjugation. The plural suffix, however, is -i, as in kleoni, komerexi.
Klingonaase vocabulary:
federazhon The United Federation of Planets.
fedegonaase UFP standard language, whatever that is.
gagny Damned.
g'dayt Undefined adjectives (gerunds?), roughly equivalent
g'daya to "damned," but probably stronger.
kaase Hand.
Kahlesste kaase! "Kahless' hand," an oath referring to the story of the
Emperor Kahless, who died with his hand tied to the
controls of his ship in a battle against Romulans.
kai Hail, or "long live". Used often, as "Kai <noun>".
kai kassai The same, emphasized. "Kai kassai, Klingon!"
khesterex Literally, "the structure which dies."
khest To screw up.
khesterex thath Screwed up situation.
kherx A screw-up.
parkhest Damn!
khest'n Apparently interchangable adjectives, roughly equal
khest't to "damned."
kleon Enemy, or opponent. Same, to a Klingon.
klin That which is Klingon. One can be 'full of klin,'
i.e., a worthy Klingon.
Klingon Klingon. Noun only, I think.
Klinzhai The Klingon homeworld -- not called 'Klingon'!
klingonaase The Klingonese language.
komerex Literally, "the structure which grows." Overtones
of "path," or even "Tao."
komerex Klingon The Klingon Empire.
komerex zha See 'zha' below.
kuve Servitor; alternative translation is slave.
kuvekhestat Worthless slave(s). See 'khest' above.
kuveleta Half-slave; an insult. Klingons mix races freely,
but have cultural prejudices against some.
kuvesa tokhesa "I serve willingly."
tharkuve Deaf slave, unable to overhear secret conferences.
tharavul Vulcan servitor, lobotomized to remove the Vulcan's
telepathic powers. This is done voluntarily.
nal Negating word -- as, "Nal komerex, khesterex."
straave, straav' Slave.
tokhe straav' Willing slave. Just about the worst insult one can
call a Klingon.
tai Worthy, honored.
epetai-zana Honored and exalted one.
tai-kleon Worthy opponent. See 'kleon' above.
Various forms of 'tai' are used to separate a given
name from a line name. Distinctions between these
are not clear, and all are honorifics added to the
name during a career. Examples:
Krenn sutai-Rustazh
Kethas epetai-Khemara
Mabli vestai-Galann
Kezhke zantai-Adion
Khidri tai-Gensa
Note: Given name starting with 'K' is an honorific,
of unspecified use. When Vrenn was promoted to
Captain, he was able to change his name to Krenn.
teskas Compliments, praise.
teskas tal'tai-kleon Compliments to a worthy opponent.
tokhe Willing. See 'straave' and 'kuve' above.
vird'dakaase Disruptor. Literally, "shake-till-falls-apart tool."
Note the -aase (or -kaase) suffix.
zan Neutral title of respect; roughly equal to Mister.
Don't recall seeing it used to women.
zha Game.
klin zha The Klingon game (in several variations).
klin zha kinta The Klingon game with living pieces.
hum zha The Human game, chess.
rom zha The Romulan game, latrunculo.
komerex zha The perpetual game -- life. See 'komerex' above.
zha riest'n [It was a] pleasant game.
There are several usages from which I can't reliably deduce what means
what, and why. These follow:
sa tel'ren Two out of three. One can't assume sa=2 and ren=3.
humanai kuvest' Either "human slave" or "slave of the humans."
tokhest' From context, "if he is willing or not." Your guess
is as good as mine how much of that is in the -st',
and how much is implied.
komerex tel khesterex This was an interjection, probably "grow or die."
And that is all the klingonaase codified at present. I'm not certain how
closely this vocabulary corresponds to the dialogue in ST:TMP; any major
discrepancy is explainable by the fact that they were speaking the "battle
language" dialect in those scenes. Read John Ford's "The Final Reflection"
to see these phrases in action, and to learn a measure of healthy respect
for the komerex klingon.
--
Stewart Wiener :-) "Read and weep as did Alexander
Princeton Univ. EECS :-) when he beheld the glories of
princeton!tilt!smw :-) Egypt." --G. Roddenberry