Klingon Grammar Addenda

Key: Spoken by Okrand | Inferred from canon | Accepted usage

6. Syntax

6.1. Basic Sentences

  1. Some complex sentences in English will be rendered as two or more simpler sentences in Klingon [HQ3:1 p.3; HQ4:2 p.5]

  2. Impersonal sentences ("It" sentences, where "it" doesn't refer to anything specific) seem to be allowed, eg. SIS "It's raining" [KLI: S. Boozer, 7/12/98, "Anecdotal Okrand"]

6.2. Complex sentences

   6.2.1. Compound sentences

  1. The conjunction 'ej merely indicates the (simultaneous?) occurence of two events; there is no time sequence implied, eg. mabom 'ej matlhutlh "We sing and we drink", not *"We sing and then drink" [MSN 3/20/98]

  2. Sequence seems to be indicated by the lack of a conjunction, eg. bogh tlhInganpu', SuvwI'pu' moj, Hegh "Klingons are born, become warriors, then die."; beyHom bey bey'a' jachtaH "They are letting out an ever­louder howl." [TKW p.5; S31]

  3. The "sentence" conjunctions can be used with verbal phrases as well as complete sentences, eg. SuvmeH 'ej charghmeH bogh tlhInganpu' [TKW p.5 et al.]

   6.2.3. Relative clauses

  1. You can mark the head noun of a relative phrase (subject or object of the ­bogh verb) with ­'e': HoD'e' qIpta'bogh yaS vIlegh "I see the captain who was hit by the officer" (not "I see the officer who hit the captain"). [HQ1:3 p.4]

  2. You may be able to use any Type 5 suffix to mark the head noun of a relative phrase: meQtaHbogh qachDaq Suv qoH neH "Only a fool fights in a burning house". [TKW p.111; S99]

    The rule seems to be that the Head noun of the relative ­bogh verb must be the subject or object of the relative verb (MO: "I couldn't make the ­bogh thing work for me with anything other than subject or object" [HQ4:2 p.5]), but that the Head noun can take any Type 5 noun suffix in relation to the main verb of the sentence. When the Head noun is the subject or object of the main verb, too, or when it is the first element in a N­N construction, it can take ­'e'. When it has some other relationship with the main verb, it can take the appropriate Type 5 Noun suffix. (This is still controversial [KLI: W. Martin, 1/27/99, "Re: qID"; KLI: A. Anderson, 1/29/99, "Re: qID"]
         This doesn't solve the "Ship in which I fled" problem: in a sentence like "They attacked the ship in which I fled", "ship" is the object of the main verb and part of a locative prepositional phrase with the relative verb; the exact opposite of what I described above.
     

  3. Headless relatives (i.e., relative ­bogh words with no expressed subject or object, eg. *SuHeghbogh "You who are dying") are probably not allowed. [FAQ; HQ1:3 p.5]

   6.2.4. Purpose clauses

  1. Verbs with ­meH can modify nouns as well as verbs, eg. pe'meH taj "cutting knife". They are able to take actual subjects and/or objects. [HQ7:3 p.6; HQ7:2 p.14; KGT p.63]

    Although first stated in TKD, the full implications of this didn't become clear until later. We especially didn't realize the implications of the fact that nouns could be modified with a ­meH verb which itself had subjects or objects (see below).
     

  2. Such verbs can be used to express Sentences as Subjects, eg. nargh qaSuchmeH 'eb "the opportunity to visit you has passed". [HQ7:2 p.14]

    Certain types of sentences require a verb phrase to be the subject of another verb. In English, these are usually expressed by sentences of the type "It is X that Y"; for example, "It is good to see you" is equivalent to "It is good that I see you", which is equivalent to "(I see you) is good." This is called a clefted expression; the Sentence­As­Subject, "(I see you)" is moved from subject position (with a change in form) to after the verb "good", and the dummy subject "It" serves as the marker of the clefted expression and points back to the clefted phrase.
         Klingon has no exact equivalent of this construction, but we have come to see that a verb phrase with ­meH and a noun subject can express the same sort of relationship: QaQ qaleghmeH 'eb. There are several likely candidates for the head noun (i.e., the noun that serves as the actual subject and as the head of the ­meH phrase: 'eb, Qu', ghu', etc. Note that this construction carries a sense of purpose that is absent in the English version; in most cases, this doesn't affect the meaning, but it may mean that certain nouns are not appropriate as head nouns.
     

  3. Verbs with ­meH must take verb prefixes, if only the 3­rd person zero­prefix, when appropriate. [HQ8:2 p.12]

    The practical applications of my article cited above are that

    1. the ­meH verb can take objects when desired;
    2. the ­meH verb must take a prefix when the subject of the purpose clause is 1st or 2nd person (or plural 3rd person with singular 3rd person object);
    3. when the subject of the purpose clause is indefinite, you can indicate this with ­lu' or by 3rd person zero­suffix and no stated subject noun.
     

   6.2.5. Sentences as Objects

  1. Adverbs with 'e' come after the object sentence and before the 'e', eg. paw Duj wej 'e' vIlegh "I haven't seen the ship arrive yet". [HQ1:2 p.11]

  2. The object pronoun 'e' can refer to an entire previous sentence: 'e' neHbe' vavwI' "That (i.e., some previous sentence) isn't what my father wanted" [ST6].

  3. The verb jatlh can take an object, but only a noun describing a language (eg. tlhIngan Hol) or speech event (eg. SoQ). For reported speech, the quotation is not the object of jatlh, and jatlh will take the "no object" verb prefixes, eg. jIghung jIjatlh "I say I am hungry" (literally "I am hungry. I say (that)"). [MSN 6/30/97]

  4. The only true verbs of speech are jatlh and ja'. English allows many verbs to be used as verbs of speech, but in Klingon, these would be multiple sentences, eg. jIjach. jIjatlh yImev "I shouted 'Stop'!" (literally "I shout. I speak. 'Stop!'"). [HQ7:4 p.4]

6.4. Questions

  1. We have no indirect question/relative adverbs and thus no way to directly express Questions as Objects, and must recast them. [HQ6:4 p.12; KLI: S. Boozer, 7/12/98, "Anecdotal Okrand"]

    Some possible recastings include Duj luQaw'meH mIw vISov "I know how they destroyed the ship" (literally "I know the in­order­that­they­destroy­the­ship­method"); wa' jaj Duj luQaw' 'ej jajvam vISov "I know when they destroyed the ship" (literally "On one day they destroyed the ship, and I know that day") [TKW p.177]
     

  2. We have no word for the question word "which" and must recast the sentence, eg. nuH DaneHbogh yIngu' "Which weapon do you want?" (literally "Identify the weapon which you want!"). [KGT p.105; KLI: K. Traft, 12/15/96, "Dr. Okrand Speaks -- lengthy"]

6.6. Comparatives and superlatives

What can fill the slots of the A Q law'/B Q puS construction:

  1. A and B can be any noun or noun phrase, eg. targhwIj yab tIn law' no'lI' Hoch yabDu' tIn puS. [PK]

  2. Noun and verb phrases can precede the entire construction, eg. reH latlh qabDaq qul tuj law', Hoch tuj puS; tlhutlhmeH HIq ngeb qaq law' bIQ qaq puS [PK; HQ2:2 p.3; TKW p.75]

  3. A and B can be pronouns [HQ4:2 p.3]

  4. Other contrastive pairs can replace law'/puS, eg. HoS/puj. [KGT p.178]

  5. Only descriptive verbs can fill the Q slot, and then only in a predicate fashion, so you must use some other formula for other types of comparisions, such as sentences with nIv or ­qu', eg. bortaS nIvqu' 'oH bortaS'e' "Revenge is the best revenge"; jach yaS 'ach jachqu' HoD "The captain shouts louder than the officer." [HQ4:3 p.15; TKW p.121 et al.].

©1999 Terrence Donnelly