Pronouncing Klingon ... That's The Easy Part! - Alphabet And Vowels

bInepchu' I tell a humongous lie. Klingon is notoriously difficult to pronounce.

Difficult ... but not impossible. This article will help you to begin to learn. Mastery is up to you.

The Letters Of Klingon

tlhIngan Hol has 26 distinct letters: five vowel sounds, a whole lot of really fun consonants, and a glottal stop character ' which is a separate letter.
Klingon alphabetical order is as follows:


a, b, ch, D, e, gh, H, I, j, l, m, n, ng, o, p, q, Q, r, S, t, tlh, u, v, w, y, '
The Klingon letter names (pronouncing the ay part as in buy, chai, die, my, nigh, pie, rye etc) are:-

a	'at
b	bay
ch	chay
D	Day
e	'et
gh	ghay
H	Hay
I	'It
j	jay
l	lay
m	may
n	nay
ng	ngay
o	'ot
p	pay
q	qay
Q	Qay
r	ray
S	Say
t	tay
tlh	tlhay
u	'ut
v	vay
w	way
y	yay
'	qaghwI'

Note that ch, gh, ng, and tlh are considered separate letters. The syllable no precedes the syllable nga in the dictionary. Furthermore, note that q and Q are completely separate letters: qugh cruise (v) is not the same as Qugh disaster (n).

The Vowels Of Klingon

Some of the sounds are comparatively easy to pronounce. Vowels, for example, are straightforwards.
a is always pronounced as in bath or farm. When stressed, it is pronounced as in tap or cat. Examples: vagh five (number); qatlh why? (question)

e is always pronounced as in scare or wear; stressed, it can sound like the e in set or debt. Examples: Segh type, sort, class (n); 'el enter, go in

I (which is always capitalised) is pronounced as in wizard or lizard, and as in git and fit when stressed. Examples: rIgh be lame (v); rIn be accomplished, finished (v)

o is pronounced as in door, floor or sore; as dot or shot when stressed. Examples: jor explode (v); po' be skilled (v)

u is always pronounced as in fool or stool; in a stressed syllable, like foot or soot. Examples: vuv respect (v); quS chair (n)

Vowels Followed By w or y

When a vowel is followed by w or y, the consonant changes how the vowel is pronounced.
aw - as in cow or now. Examples: paw arrive (v); chaw' permit, allow (v)
ay - as in buy or die. Examples: chay' How? (question); jay' invective (adverbial)
ey - as in say or display. Examples: jey defeat (v); Sey be excited (v)
Iy - as in key or sea. Examples: wIy tactical display (n); mIy brag (v)
oy - as in joy or toy. Examples: joy torture (v); moy'bI' slingshot (n)

Some other Klingon vowel sounds modified by w or y:-

uy - Try and say this as if you were pronouncing the word "Dewey" without the "e" sounds, kind of like the wy in "Dwy."

ew - Run the e and w sounds together; the Welsh Ewrop ("EH-OO-rop"), rather than the German Europa ("OY-ropa").

Iw - as in the sound you make when you hear something icky; "Ewww!"

Vowels Beginning Syllables

One of the more interesting things about Klingon is that, with only one exception, Klingon syllables never begin with a vowel. Klingon syllables will always begin with a consonant or '. You will not see a Klingon with like *Iw - only 'Iw, with the initial glottal stop - which is always pronounced.
The above has just been about the vowels of Klingon. The fun part, the consonants, will be the subject of the next few posts.