Klingon/Irregular nouns
Irregular nouns
editThere are a handful of irregular nouns in Klingon.
Irregular plurals
editThese nouns have plurals that are not formed by adding a plural suffix (-Du', -mey or -pu'). Adding -mey gives a meaning scattered about or all over the place. The plural form of these nouns take a singular prefix such as yI-.
| Klingon singular | Klingon plural | English singular |
|---|---|---|
| DoS | ray' | target |
| jengva' | ngop | plate |
| mang | negh | soldier |
| peng | cha | torpedo, missile |
| qempa' | no' | ancestor |
| Sup | jo | resource |
| vIj | chuyDaH | thruster |
Plural nouns
editThese noun exist in the plural only, and have no known singular. When used in a sentence, the verb prefix referring to the noun must also be singular, such as yI-. (However, a Klingon noun without a plural suffix can be used as a plural, in which case it may be that the normal plural forms exist for some of these nouns.)
| Klingon | English |
|---|---|
| begh | deflectors |
| botjan | shields (force field on ship)
(This could possibly be considered as a singular word, force field, so that only in English it is plural?*) |
| cha'nob | ritual gifts |
| chuvmey | leftovers (referring to words that are not nouns nor verbs)
chuv is a verb! |
| Duj | instincts
(Duj also means ship, plural Dujmey) |
| ghISDen | scales (animal covering) |
| lolSeHcha | attitude-control thrusters
(Probably the singular is lolSeHpeng, following from peng and cha for torpedo and torpedoes.*) |
| paSlogh | socks |
| QaS | troops |
| Quv | coordinates |
| 'eDSeHcha | take-off/landing thrusters
(Probably the singular is 'eDSeHpeng, following from peng and cha for torpedo and torpedoes.*) |
*There is no canon to back up these assumptions. The *cha in lolSeHcha and 'eDSeHcha may have nothing to do with torpedoes (just as the word "does" (meaning 'female deer, plural') has nothing to do with "torpedoes" even though they contain the same sound).