Joining Sentences Without 'e' Or net

There are two main examples where tlhIngan Hol allows two sentences to be joined without 'e' or net:-

• When the verb of the second sentence is neH want;
• Verbs of saying (say, tell, ask etc).

Verb of Wanting

Neither 'e' nor net need be used when the verb of the second sentence is neH want:-

jIQong vIneH	I want to sleep
qalegh vIneH	I want to see you
Dalegh vIneH	I want you to see him/her
qama'pu' vIjonta' vIneH	I wanted to capture prisoners

Aspect Marker Placement

Note where the aspect marker appears in qama'pu' vIjonta' vIneH I wanted to capture prisoners.

The aspect marker goes with the first verb only; the second verb, vIneH I want it, is neutral as to time. The past tense of the translation (I wanted ...) comes from the aspect marker on the first verb.

Examples

Dochvam DaSop DaneH'a'	Do you want to eat this?
qaHoH DaneH'a'	Do you want me to kill you?
HoH'egh neHlaw'	I think he wants to kill himself
chab vISoppu' vIneHbe'	I didn't want to eat the pie
nobmey vISuqta' vIneH	I wanted to get the presents!
bIQub pIneH	We want you to think
reQub pIneH	We want you all to think
wamlu'ta' vIneH	I wanted him to be hunted
QIt joy'lu'ta' vIneH	I wanted him tortured slowly
bechtaH vIneH	I want him to suffer
tagha' HoHlu'ta' vIneH	Finally, I wanted him killed

Verbs of Speech

Verbs of speech do not use 'e' or net. The phrases can follow one another in either order.

qaja'pu' HIqaghQo'	I told you not to interrupt me!
HIqaghQo' qaja'pu'	I told you not to interrupt me!

Aspect Marker Placement

Aspect markers may always be attached to the saying verb, regardless of whether it is the first or second verb.

Examples

Dajoy' qara'ta'	I ordered you to torture him!
naDev vISovbe' jatlh	She says she's lost
Duyajbe'taH jatlh	She says she still doesn't understand you
Duyajbe' jatlhtaH	She's still saying that she doesn't understand you
Dochvam Data' Dutlhobta' 'Iv	Who asked you to do this?
povvam vItlhobta' murI'	I asked her to call me this afternoon
povvam murI' vItlhobta'	I asked her to call me this afternoon
HIvDI' jagh hIghuHmoH	Alert me when the enemy attacks

rIntaH is another example of the two-verb (or two-sentence) construction. Remember that the aspect marker -ta' accomplished, done verb suffix is not used in a sentence with rIntaH.

Dajoy' rIntaH	You tortured him
naDev jagh vIjey rIntaH	Here is where I defeated the enemy
Dochvam vIta' rIntaH	I did this?
nItebHa' Dochvam wIta' rIntaH	We did this together?

The Pronoun net And How To Use It

The Pronoun net that

Now it's time to look at the special pronoun net.

The Klingon Dictionary - 6.2.5. Sentences As Objects

This is what we know about the use of net from The Klingon Dictionary, 6.2.5.:-

- net refers to the previous sentence as a whole.

- net is used primarily, not exclusively, with verbs of thinking or observation (such as know, see).

- net is always treated as the object verb, and the verb always takes a prefix indicating a third-person singular object.

- What is a single sentence in English is often two sentences in Klingon.

- net is used only under special circumstances.

Now let's see what those special circumstances are.

The Klingon Dictionary continues ...

When the verb of the second sentence has a third-person subject (that is, the pronominal prefix is 0) but the intended meaning is one or someone, rather than he, she, it or they, net is used instead of 'e'.

The two examples given are:-

qama'pu' DIHoH net Sov	One knows we kill prisoners.
Qu'vaD lI' net tu'bej	One certainly finds it useful for the mission.

The first sentence,

qama'pu' DIHoH

means We kill prisoners. When the second part is added,

net Sov One knows that

it implies common knowledge that the speaker's group kills prisoners.

In the same way, when you take apart

Qu'vaD lI' net tu'bej

One certainly finds it useful for the mission.

the first part, Qu'vaD lI' reads it is useful for the mission (Qu'vaD for the mission, lI' it is useful), and net tu'bej reads One certainly finds that or One certainly observes that.

The full net tu'bej construction might also be translated One will certainly find that ... or One will certainly observe that ..., using will here in English only insofar as it allows the translation to flow more smoothly. There is nothing in the Klingon sentence to indicate the future tense.

No other examples are given in The Klingon Dictionary, but here are some net constructions you can try out.

net tu'	One finds that ...
net tu'ba'	One obviously finds that ...
net tu'bej	One certainly finds that ...
net Sov	One knows that ...
net Sovba'	One obviously knows that ...
net Sovbej	One certainly knows that ...
net Har	One believes that ...
net Harba'	One obviously believes that ...
net Harbej	One certainly believes that ...
net yaj	One understands that ...
net yajba'	One obviously understands that ...
net yajbej	One certainly understands that ...
net jatlh	One says that ...
net jatlhba'	One obviously says that ...
net jatlhbej	One certainly says that ...

The net jatlh construction can be translated into English as They say that ... or It is said that ... in the same way that net Har can be translated as It is believed that ... or They believe that ...

Some examples:-

Sanchaj luqotlhbej qoHpu' net tu'	One finds that fools certainly deserve their fate
luHoHlaH pagh net jatlh	They say that he cannot be killed ("They say that nobody can kill him")
potlh Qu'vam net yaj	One understands that this mission is important
maHvaD ramqu' qama'vetlh net leghlaHbej	One can certainly see that that prisoner is utterly insignificant to us
puj jaghvetlh net leghlaHbej	One can certainly see that that enemy is weak

Next time: In the next lesson, we look at those compound sentences which require neither 'e' or net.

The Pronoun 'e'

The Pronoun 'e' that

The previous post revealed how the Type 5 suffix -'e' topic was used to emphasise that the modified noun of a sentence was, in fact, the topic of the sentence. This article looks at the deceptively similar pronoun 'e'.

The Pronouns

Pronouns have been introduced before in tlhIngan Hol, both as verb suffixes and as standalone words. Below is the full list of pronominal pronouns.

jIH	I, me	maH	we, us
SoH	you	tlhIH	you (plural)
ghaH	he/she, him/her	chaH	they, them (able to use language)
'oH	it	bIH	they, them (things)
'e'	that	net	that

This article will look at the pronoun 'e' and how it is used.

The Klingon Dictionary - 6.2.5. Sentences As Objects

This is what The Klingon Dictionary has to say about the use of 'e':-

Klingon has two special pronouns, 'e' and net, which refer to the previous sentence as a whole. They are used primarily, not exclusively, with verbs of thinking or observation (such as know, see). They are always treated as the object verb, and the verb always takes a prefix indicating a third-person singular object. What is a single sentence in English is often two sentences in Klingon. The two examples given are:-

qama'pu' DIHoH 'e' luSov	They know we kill prisoners
yaS qIppu' 'e' vIlegh	I saw him/her hit the officers

The first is:-

qama'pu' DIHoH 'e' luSov

They know we kill prisoners

which is split into two sentences:-

qama'pu' DIHoH

We kill prisoners

'e' luSov

They know that

The "that" is glossed over in English, but it cannot be glossed over in Klingon.

The next example is:-

yaS qIppu' 'e' vIlegh

I saw him/her hit the officers

which is split into two sentences:-

yaS qIppu'

He/she hit the officers

'e' vIlegh

I saw that

The Klingon Dictionary adds:-

In complex sentences of this type, the second verb never takes an aspect suffix (section 4.2.7).

The aspect suffix -pu' here affects both parts of the sentence: I see (that) he/she hit the officers is ungrammatical.

Here are some new examples:-

nuH lunIHta' romuluSngan 'e' vIlegh	I saw the Romulan steal the weapon
Duj lunIHta' romuluSnganpu' 'e' vIHar	I believe that the Romulans stole the ship
tep luptaH vulqangan Duj 'e' vISov	I know that the Vulcan ship is carrying the cargo
qoH vuvbe' SuS 'e' Dayaj'a'	Do you understand that the wind does not respect a fool?
SutlhmeH pa'vetlhDaq 'el 'e' Har	He believes that he is entering that room in order to negotiate.
jolpa'Daq ghaHtaH HoD'e' 'e' vISov	I know that the Captain is in the transporter room

Note the use of both the pronoun 'e' and the suffix -'e' in the last sentence.

Next: The pronoun net that.

Pronouns

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You have already seen how tlhIngan Hol uses prefixes to denote the subject and object of a sentence. Also, you know how to use a prefix to designate I, me, you, we or us in a sentence - qaleghneS It is an honour to see you, ghowIv choose us! and so on.

Klingon, however, has another way of defining subjects and objects - through separate pronouns.

English has a host of these pronouns - I, me, myself, you, him, her, it, us, them and so on - but tlhIngan Hol uses just eight:-

jIH	I, me
SoH	you
ghaH	he, him/ she, her
'oH	it
maH	we, us
tlhIH	you (plural)
chaH	they, them (beings capable of using language)
bIH	they, them (things incapable of using language)

Prefixes And Pronouns

For most sentences, you do not need to use both the prefixes and the pronouns. Just the prefixes alone are enough - qaHoH I will kill you is all you need; qaHoH jIH, SoH qaHoH and SoH qaHoH jIH all still mean I will kill you, but the pronouns are superfluous because the prefix conveys all the information the sentence needs.

Indeed, while you might not need to use the pronouns, you always have to use the appropriate prefixes.

So why do you need separate pronouns?

"I am a Klingon"

Declarative sentences of the "I am a X" / "He is a X" type are the reason why pronouns exist in Klingon. These sentences take the form

NOUN - PRONOUN Note that in some cases where there is a plural pronoun, or the verb is carrying a plural prefix, the plural suffixes -mey, -Du' and -pu' discussed in the previous lessons are not needed; they can be used, and the pronoun or prefix is all that you need to make the meaning clear, but they are not strictly necessary because the pronoun specifies the meaning of singular or plural.

However, if you are using a plural suffix and a pronoun - for instance, for emphasis - it is important that the plural suffix match the pronoun, and that the suffix be of the correct type:- jagh chaH they are enemies works, but *jaghpu' ghaH* is incorrect - as is *jaghmey chaH* unless you are referring to animals, or being poetic and describing enemies scattered all about.

tlhIngan jIH	I am a Klingon
tera'ngan jIH	I am a Terran
loD SoH	You are a man
jagh SoH	You are the enemy
loD ghaH	He is a man
be' ghaH	She is a woman
jup ghaH	He is a friend
jup ghaH	She is a friend
nuH 'oH	It is a weapon
nob 'oH	It is a gift
Sov 'oH	It is knowledge
Hol 'oH	It is a language
tlhIngan maH	We are Klingons!
juppu' tlhIH	You are friends
be' chaH	They are women
Dochmey bIH	They are things
latlh bIH	They are additional ones

"I am not a Klingon"

To state something that is not - e.g. "I am not a Klingon" - you attach the suffix -be' not to the end of the pronoun.

Using the same examples from the above table, you get the following examples:-

tlhIngan jIHbe'	I am not a Klingon
tera'ngan jIHbe'	I am not a Terran
loD SoHbe'	You are not a man
jagh SoHbe'	You are not the enemy
loD ghaHbe'	He is not a man
be' ghaHbe'	She is not a woman
jup ghaHbe'	He is not a friend
jup ghaHbe'	She is not a friend
nuH 'oHbe'	It is not a weapon
nob 'oHbe'	It is not a gift
Sov 'oHbe'	It is not knowledge
Hol 'oHbe'	It is not a language
tlhIngan maHbe'	We are not Klingons!
juppu' tlhIHbe'	You are not friends
be' chaHbe'	They are not women
Dochmey bIHbe'	They are not the things
latlh bIHbe'	They are not the additional ones

"Are you a Klingon?"

In the same way, when asking the question "Is X a Y?" or "Are X Y?" you attach the suffix -'a' to the end of the pronoun, giving such examples as:-

tlhIngan jIH'a'	Am I a Klingon?
tera'ngan jIH'a'	Am I a Terran?
loD SoH'a'	Are you a man?
jagh SoH'a'	Are you an enemy?
loD ghaH'a'	Is he the man?
be' ghaH'a'	Is she the woman?
jup ghaH'a'	Is he a friend?
jup ghaH'a'	Is she the friend?
nuH 'oH'a'	Is it a weapon?
nob 'oH'a'	Is it the gift?
Sov 'oH'a'	Is it knowledge?
Hol 'oH'a'	Is it a language?
tlhIngan maH'a'	Are we Klingons?
juppu' tlhIH'a'	Are you friends?
be' chaH'a'	Are they the women?
Dochmey bIH'a'	Are they the things?
latlh bIH'a'	Are they the other ones?

"Are we not men?"

Finally, if asking the question "Am I not ...?" or "Are you not ...?" you can combine the -be' and -'a' suffixes to form -be''a' which you then attach to the pronoun:-

tlhIngan jIHbe''a'	Am I not a Klingon?
tera'ngan jIHbe''a'	Am I not a Terran?
loD SoHbe''a'	Are you not a man?
jagh SoHbe''a'	Are you not the enemy?
loD ghaHbe''a'	Is he not a man?
be' ghaHbe''a'	Is she not the woman?
jup ghaHbe''a'	Is he not a friend?
jup ghaHbe''a'	Is she not the friend?
nuH 'oHbe''a'	Is it not a weapon?
nob 'oHbe''a'	Is it not a gift?
Sov 'oHbe''a'	Is it not knowledge?
Hol 'oHbe''a'	Is it not a language?
loDpu' maHbe''a'	Are we not men?
tlhIngan maHbe''a'	Are we not Klingons?
juppu' tlhIHbe''a'	Are you not friends?
be' chaHbe''a'	Are they not women?
Dochmey bIHbe''a'	Are they not the things?
latlh bIHbe''a'	Are they not the additional ones?

"The X is a Y"

One more way in which you can use pronouns is to state sentences of the form "The X is a Y," where X and Y are both nouns. In this case, since the subject and object are in the third person, the only pronouns which can be used for this kind of sentence are ghaH, 'oH, chaH and bIH.

The format of "The X is a Y" sentences is

Y - PRONOUN - X -'e'

with the suffix -'e' attached to the noun X.

Again, with these kinds of sentences, the -'a' and -be' are attached to the pronoun if you are saying "The X is not a Y" or asking "Is the X a Y?"

Please note that when using plurals in the X and Y positions in sentences like these the appropriate plural suffixes are needed.

jup ghaH loDHom'e'	The boy is a friend
be' ghaH SuvwI''e'	The warrior is a woman
jagh ghaH latlh'e'	The other one is the enemy
latlh ghaH jagh'e'	The enemy is the other one
nuH 'oH vay''e'	Something is a weapon
Sov 'oH Hol'e'	Language is knowledge
vay' 'oH Hol'e'	Language is something
nob 'oH'a' nuH'e'	Is the weapon a gift?
juppu' chaHbe' tlhInganpu''e'	The Klingons are not friends
tlhInganpu' chaHbe' be'nalpu''e'	The wives are not Klingons
Subpu' chaH tlhInganpu''e'	The Klingons are heroes
nobmey bIH nuHmey'e'	The weapons are gifts
nuHmey bIHbe''a' 'ay'mey'e'	Are the components not weapons?
'ay'mey bIH Dochmey'e'	Are the items components?
paqmey bIHbe' Dochmey'e'	The objects are not books.

A note on gender

The pronoun ghaH is the same for he, him as for she, her. If you must specify the gender of a person in such a statement, use the X - PRONOUN - Y'e' construction to specify the Y:-

tlhIngan ghaH He or she is a Klingon

tlhIngan ghaH be'nI''e' The sister is a Klingon

be'nal ghaH be'nI''e' The sister is the wife
("It is the wife who is the sister")

jagh ghaH loDnal'e' It is the husband who is the enemy

Pronouns - finishing touches

So that is how Klingon uses pronouns. This is something you will see appearing throughout the rest of the lessons, particularly in future lessons where there will be conversation pieces for you to follow.

This lesson has also introduced you to two new structures - how to say something in the negative, and how to ask closed questions - questions with a yes or no answer. Questions to which the answer could be HIja' Yes, ghobe' No or even jISovbe' I don't know.

You will meet the -'a' and -be' suffixes again, in the next lesson, when you learn that they can also be applied to the verbs you have seen in other sentences.

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