An example of Klingon script
The Klingon written language
The paq'batlh, an ancient Klingon scroll written in Klingonese
Klingonese (also known more commonly as "Klingon") is the language used throughout the Klingon Empire. It was boasted that half the quadrant was learning the language by the mid-23rd century. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")
By the late-23rd century, several Federation authors wrote books on learning the Klingon language. Uhura had several on hand aboard the Enterprise in 2293, when she had to convince a Klingon patrol post that they were the Klingon freighter Ursva, including Introduction to Klingon Grammar. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
- Several of these books were seen in greater detail in the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition) DVD special features.
- Nichelle Nichols apparently complained that with the Klingons as the Federation's primary enemy, a good communications officer would be able to speak at least basic Klingon. Director Nicholas Meyer preferred to keep the scene as it was, for "the laugh."
The Klingon language contains eighty polyguttural dialects constructed on an adaptive syntax. The first Human to become fluent in it was Hoshi Sato, who learned from a linguistic database provided by the Vulcans. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Sato once remarked that a book given to her by Tarquin, written by a civilization over a thousand years dead, was in a language very similar to medieval Klingon. (ENT: "Exile")
The Klingon language was not an immutable language. It was constantly changing to meet the needs and aspirations of the people. In the mid-24th century, the word peacemaker appeared for the first time in Klingonese after the negotiations mediated by Riva between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets took place. (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper")
Montgomery Scott once stated that reading Klingon was hard compared to maintaining damage control aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
The directory of the Promenade on Deep Space 9 was written in Klingonese, as well as English, Vulcan, Ferengi, Bajoran, and Cardassian.
Kathryn Janeway stated to Arturis that, although he could speak over 4000 languages, she could barely speak basic Klingon. (VOY: "Hope and Fear")
In 2374, Alexander Rozhenko admitted to Miles O'Brien that he could barely even say his name in Klingon. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")
Klingon vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | Source |
|---|---|---|
| adanji | a type of incense used only for Mauk-to'Vor | DS9: "Sons of Mogh" |
| baH | fire! (as in torpedoes, disruptors, etc.) | Star Trek: The Motion Picture |
| bat'leth | sword of honor; a two-handed sword-like Klingon melee weapon | TNG: "Reunion" |
| Bekk | an enlisted rank in the Klingon Defense Force | DS9: "Sons and Daughters" |
| chuHwI' | a small Klingon knife | DS9: "Sons of Mogh" |
| d'akturak | ice-man | DS9: "Blood Oath" |
| d'k tahg | a traditional Klingon warrior's knife | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock |
| Fek'lhr | the demonic guard of Gre'thor, according to Klingon mythology | TNG: "Devil's Due" |
| gik'tal | to the death | TNG: "Lower Decks" |
| Gre'thor | the mythological place where souls of the dishonored go after death | TNG: "Devil's Due" |
| hur'q | outsider | DS9: "The Sword of Kahless" |
| jak'tahla | Klingon time of adolescence | Star Trek: Insurrection |
| jat'yIn | spiritual possession, lit. "the taking of the living by the dead" | TNG: "Power Play" |
| kellicam | a Klingon measurement | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock |
| Kortar | in Klingon mythology, the first Klingon created by the gods and who destroyed them | VOY: "Barge of the Dead" |
| kos'karii | pale, serpent-like creatures from Klingon mythology, who roam the waters of the underworld | VOY: "Barge of the Dead" |
| kut'luch | a traditonal knife used by Klingon assassins | TNG: "Sins of the Father" |
| Mauk-to'Vor | a ritual in which one kills a wrongfully disgraced sibling to restore their honor in Sto-vo-kor | DS9: "Sons of Mogh" |
| mek'leth | a Klingon blade weapon | DS9: "The Way of the Warrior" |
| mevak | a traditional knife used for Mauk-to'Vor | DS9: "Sons of Mogh" |
| Mok'tah | bad match | VOY: "Drive" |
| nIb'poH | déjà vu | TNG: "Cause and Effect" |
| par'Mach | love, but with more aggressive or violent undertones | DS9: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" |
| petaQ | an insult | TNG: "The Defector", et al. |
| Qapla' | success | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock |
| qhonDoq | a type of assassin's blade | TNG: "Sins of the Father" |
| qis | a small, curved blade | Star Trek Generations |
| Qui'Tu | the place where all life began, according to Klingon mythology | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier |
| Soch | the number seven | (citation needed • edit) |
| soh-chim | step-sibling, god parent (roughly); legal guardian assigned by a Klingon warrior prior to battle | TNG: "Parallels" |
| Sto-vo-kor | the afterlife of the honored dead, where Kahless the Unforgettable resides | TNG: "Rightful Heir" |
| taHqeq | a being known for telling lies; used as an insult when questioning another's honesty | TNG: "The Mind's Eye" |
| to'ba | an insult Note: Not spelled "tohzah", the H in Klingon makes a hard ch (as in "Bach") sound | TNG: "The Defector" |
| tajtiq | a long Klingon knife, usually used in pairs | DS9: "Apocalypse Rising" |
| yan | a ceremonial long sword | TNG: "Redemption" |
Klingonese quotes
- Maltz! jol yIchu'!
- "Maltz! Activate beam!"
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
- Kruge when beaming the crew of the Enterprise to his Bird of Prey, and when Kirk beams up with Spock after defeating Kruge.
- taH pagh taHbe'
- to be or not to be
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
- nuqneH, qaleghneS
- Greetings; I am honored to see you
- TNG: "The Emissary"
- naDev ghoS
- step forward
- TNG: "Redemption"
- JIlajneS. ghIj qet jaghmeyjaj
- "I accept [with honor]. May your enemies run with fear"
- TNG: "Redemption"
- Ej IM-ta fey DE-ja i
- And the blood was ankle deep
- Ej dahk-so-TAS ghos va Skral Byteek
- And the River Skral ran crimson red
- Empa jaj law-moch jaj-push
- On the day above all days
- Jaj Kahless Molor-migh hohk-chew koo
- When Kahless slew evil Molor dead
- N.B. As with many other Klingon quotations, this song is grammatically ill-formed according to Marc Okrand's dictionary. A close equivalent of the given English translation might be something similar to:
- 'ej ngIb Saw', vI', Dech je 'Iw;
- 'ej Doq, SoDtaH, ghoStaH SIQal bIQtIq;
- ngugh, jaj nIv law' Hoch nIv puS,
- molor mIgh HoHchu'qu'DI' qeylIS.
- N.B. As with many other Klingon quotations, this song is grammatically ill-formed according to Marc Okrand's dictionary. A close equivalent of the given English translation might be something similar to:
- DS9: "The Way of the Warrior" and VOY: "Barge of the Dead"
- wIy cha'
- show tactical display
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- SoHvaD pagh vIjatlh, Human!
- I have nothing to say to you, Human!
- 'ay'vamDaq nuHmey tIQeq
- target weapons on this section
- ENT: "Affliction"
- quv lughaj Archer HoD beqDaj je
- Captain Archer and his crew are honorable people
- ENT: "The Augments"
petaQ
One Klingon term used on numerous occasions was petaQ (also spelled "Pahtak", "patahk", "pahtk", or "p'tak"). It was also used by the Klingons of the mirror universe.
According to William T. Riker, PetaQ is a curse word. (TNG: "The Defector")
Usage
- Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok asked Commander William Riker how he'd allow "a Klingon petaQ to walk around in a Starfleet uniform". (TNG: "The Defector")
- J'Dan called Worf a pahtak when he didn't want to help him escape with a shuttlecraft. (TNG: "The Drumhead")
- A Klingon officer aboard the Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey called Tolian Soran a petaq when the El-Aurian returned to the bridge of the vessel after torturing Geordi La Forge. (Star Trek Generations)
- After Quark mentioned D'Ghor, Tumek told him "that pahtak's name is not spoken in this House". (DS9: "The House of Quark")
- Kor called Worf a "traitorous p'tak" when he believed he was going to steal the Sword of Kahless from him. (DS9: "The Sword of Kahless")
- In 2372 in the mirror universe, Regent Worf called Garak "the p'tak who lost Terok Nor to the rebels". (DS9: "Shattered Mirror")
- Worf called a Dopterian a p'tak after he discovered the alien had broken into his quarters and had stolen several items belonging to him. (DS9: "Bar Association")
- A Klingon stationed on Deep Space 9 called Laas a p'tak after the Changeling told him his hands would have a stench on them if they were "stained with the blood of Klingon warriors", as the Klingon had told him. (DS9: "Chimera")
- After the Doctor added a "day dream" subroutine to his program, and started malfunctioning, B'Elanna reminded him of an old Klingon saying while she was trying to fix it: "A Doctor that operates on himself has a pa'taQ for a patient." (VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy")
- The fully-Klingon B'Elanna Torres called her separated fully-Human self a petaQ several times after rescuing her Human counterpart from a Vidiian prison barracks. (VOY: "Faces")
- B'Elanna Torres used to call Max Burke pahtk while they were attending Starfleet Academy. (VOY: "Equinox")
- As can be seen above, many different spellings of the word have appeared over the years. petaQ is the official Klingon spelling from Marc Okrand's "Klingon Dictionary".
Non-Klingon speakers of Klingonese
- Arturis
- Curzon Dax
- Ezri Dax
- Jadzia Dax
- Emergency Medical Hologram
- Sito Jaxa
- Flaherty
- Elim Garak
- Kathryn Janeway
- James T. Kirk
- Melora Pazlar
- Jean-Luc Picard
- Quark
- William T. Riker
- Hoshi Sato
- Montgomery Scott
- Benjamin Sisko
Background
It was originally called "Klingonese" in the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" (by Korax) and again in "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" (by Quark). Most later episodes refer to the language simply as "Klingon," and non-canon names include Klingonaase and tlhIngan Hol. Some fans assert that Michael Pataki actually said "Klingoni" in "The Trouble with Tribbles," but this conflicts with the script and the Star Trek Encyclopedia.
The Klingon language was developed by James Doohan for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and expanded for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock by Marc Okrand, who enlarged the lexicon and created a grammar around the original dozen words Doohan had created. It has spawned several reference works, beginning with The Klingon Dictionary. Ironically, Scotty once remarked, "Reading Klingon, that's hard." (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Michael Okuda, who led the TNG-era art departments in creating Klingon language graphics, has admitted they are randomly arranged symbols, which he based on the small number of Klingon writings visible in TOS and the Star Trek films. These graphics and writings do not reflect any possible spellings or translations in what Okrand's non-canon works call pIqaD, the native Klingon writing system.
Sounds
The sounds of the Klingon language as developed by Marc Okrand are harsh and guttural. This transliteration system was used in preparing scripts and phrases when Okrand supplied dialogue and coached pronunciation.
Below is a table providing a rough guide on how to pronounce Klingon and the standard transliteration of the sounds of Klingon. Please note that this table corresponds to the sounds of the standard dialect used when Okrand created the language; other writers have introduced other sounds and concepts into the language.
| Letter | Sound | Letter | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | as in father or balm | o | as in go or close |
| b | as in ball; in some dialects it is pronounced mb as in amber or m as in mess | p | as in pass |
| ch | as in chess | q | similar to "k" but pronounced further back in the throat |
| D | as in dead but with the tongue rolled further back; also like "nd" or "n" in some dialects | Q | pronounced like q but choked, a very raspy sound, very forceful |
| e | as in bed | r | as in rotary, but trilled |
| gh | similar to "g" but softly gargled, sounds a bit like the French "r" | S | half-way between "s" and "sh", like "s" but with the tongue rolled back |
| H | as in Scottish loch or German Bach | t | as in tops |
| I | as in in or lift | tlh | like tl in bottle or Aztec tetl |
| j | as in jump | u | as in snooze but shorter |
| l | as in land | v | as in valve |
| m | as in mole | w | as in walker or where |
| n | as in nostril | y | as in young |
| ng | as in sing, never like the "ng" in finger | ' | glottal stop, as in uh-oh or cockney bo(tt)le |
Basic phrases
Below is a short list of some useful basic phrases in the tlhIngan Hol dialect, the most commonly-heard dialect used in the Empire.
| English (Human Hol, DIvI' Hol) | Klingonese (tlhIngan Hol) |
|---|---|
| I understand. | jIyaj |
| Beam me aboard! | HIjol |
| Fire thrusters! | chuyDaH |
| Pay now! | DaH yIDIl |
| I am a ... | ... jIH |
| Klingon, Romulan, Human | tlhIngan, romuluSngan, tera'ngan |
| Vulcan, Ferengi, Cardassian | vulqangan, verengan, qarDaSngan |
| Visual! | HaSta |
| ready torpedoes! | cha yIghuS |
| ready... | 'eHHH... |
| Evasive!!! | juntaH! |
Inconsistencies
The tlhIngan Hol dialect is featured most prominently in the Star Trek movies and intermittently in the series. In various instances where spoken Klingon was used in the different series, the writers usually made three mistakes when compared to Okrand's version:
- They made up their own Klingon words: e.g kuva'magh or pfiots, against the pronunciation rules of standard tlhIngan Hol
- They used official Klingon words but in such a way that they were strung together with poor grammar, for example SoH batlh jI' for "you honor me", even though this sentence means something like "I am a honor you are". The correct translation of "you honor me" would be choquvmoH or tuquvmoH, depending on whether you referred to one person or multiple people.
- They gave new or extended meaning based on the English translation of a word, for example pu'DaH (pronounced poo-dakh) - phasers and cha (pronounced chah) - torpedoes, becomes pu'Dah dak cha (pronounced puh-dar dack chah) meaning photon torpedoes, even though ' otlh cha is the correct translation.
Ronald D. Moore, noted for his major contributions to developing the Klingon culture, commented: "Whether or not we use the language as spelled out in Marc's dictionary is up to the individual writer. I personally find the dictionary cumbersome and usually find it easier to make it up phonetically." [1]
Episodes in which Klingonese is spoken
- Star Trek films
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- "Redemption"
- "Cause and Effect"
- "Parallels" (by the Enterprise-D bridge crew, at Worf's birthday party)
- "Lower Decks"
- "Reunion"
- "Birthright, Part II" (sung by the Klingons in the Romulan Prison Camp after Worf returns from "the hunt")
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek: Voyager
- "Real Life" (by Jeffrey)
- "Barge of the Dead"
- Star Trek: Enterprise
- "Broken Bow" (by Klaang and Hoshi Sato)
- "Sleeping Dogs"
- "Observer Effect" (by Hoshi Sato)
- "Affliction" (by the unnamed Klingon prisoner)