
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

