« I study Klingon »

Beginners, welcome!

Today let’s talk about what everyone here is doing: studying Klingon.

tlhIngan Hol vI HaD jIH = I study Klingon

Let’s break it down one piece at a time:

• tlhIngan Hol: the Klingon language
• vIHaD: I study it

tlhIngan = Klingon
Hol = language

To talk about languages in Klingon, use:

{people/place of origin} + Hol => {people/place of origin} language

For example, vulqan means Vulcan (the planet), so vulqan Hol = the Vulcan language.

To refer to English (the Federation language), Klingons say DIvI' Hol (DIvI' = Federation).

If you remember Lesson 1, you saw HaD (to study) in vIHaD. You might wonder why we add the prefix vI-.

Here’s why:

1. Klingon verbs always take a prefix in a sentence.
2. The prefix must match both object and subject (person & number).
3. Each object-subject combo has its own prefix.

In “I study Klingon,” the subject is 1 sg (“I”) and the object is 3 sg (“it” – Klingon). The correct prefix is vI-: I→it. So vIHaD = “I study it.”

You can swap in any object:

[X] vIHaD jIH = I study [X]

E.g. DIvI' Hol vIHaD jIH = I study English (DIvI' Hol = English).

You might ask why Lesson 1’s “chal HaD tej” (the scientist studies the sky) shows no prefix. It uses the null (invisible) prefix when both subject and object are 3 sg, so HaD already carries it.

There are many more prefixes for different combos. We’ll cover those later.

jIH = I

Since vI- indicates “I” as subject, you can omit jIH. Both tlhIngan Hol vIHaD jIH and tlhIngan Hol vIHaD mean “I study Klingon.”

Now it’s time to practice:

[X] vI-(verb) = I (verb) [X]

Build new sentences and post them in the Learn Klingon group with English translations.

Today's new words:

Qapla'!

Prepared by Aurélie Demonchaux (ghItlhjaj)