Language, Names and Ranks

1. Overview

Klingons say what they mean, and expect others to do the same. That is the first rule for any Federation officer speaking to a Klingon, and it matters more than any word list. A Klingon will forgive a mispronounced name. He will not easily forgive evasion, flattery or a refusal dressed up as a pleasantry.

This article covers the Klingon language in general terms, Klingon names and how to read them, the words and phrases a Federation officer is most likely to hear, the ranks of the Klingon Defense Force with rough Starfleet equivalents, the titles of state, and how to address a Klingon officer correctly. The customs behind many of these words are covered in Honour, Faith and Custom, and the Defense Force itself in The Klingon Defense Force.

A note on sources. The Federation knows the Klingon language far better than it knows Romulan. More than a century of alliance, officer exchange and shared war has seen to that. But much of the language’s depth, its old ritual forms, its poetry and the speech of the great houses, is known only in part. The words given here are those that have come into common use between Klingons and Federation officers. Where Federation records give a term only in translation, so does this article.

2. The Klingon Language

Klingons call their language tlhIngan Hol. To human ears it is harsh and guttural, full of sounds made at the back of the throat, and it carries well across a loud room or a bridge in battle. Klingons think it well suited to its purposes, and they are right. It is a language for commands, oaths, insults, songs and stories, and Klingon has words for kinds of honour and dishonour that Federation Standard can only describe at length.

Klingon has its own script, seen on Klingon ships, weapons, monuments and displays. Federation officers who serve with Klingons learn to recognise a few common signs, but very few learn to read it.

The universal translator handles everyday Klingon well. It handles ritual Klingon less well, and Klingons themselves often leave ritual and cultural terms untranslated when speaking Standard, because the Standard words are not the same thing. A Federation officer will therefore hear Klingon words in otherwise plain Standard speech, and should learn the common ones (see section 4). Many Klingons who deal with the Federation, and all who serve in Starfleet or under the officer exchange, speak Federation Standard well. Some Klingons pretend not to, as a test. It is best to assume that any Klingon understands whatever is said in front of him.

Federation officers who try to speak Klingon will find that the effort is respected and the accent mocked. Both are meant kindly, more or less.

3. Names

3.1 Personal names and descent

A Klingon has a personal name, usually short and often containing sounds that humans find hard to say, marked in Standard writing with an apostrophe. In formal settings a Klingon is named with his father: Worf, son of Mogh; Gowron, son of M’Rel; Martok, son of Urthog. A woman is named in the same way as her father’s daughter: Azetbur was the daughter of Chancellor Gorkon. The form is used when a Klingon introduces himself formally, when he is named before the High Council, and when his honour is at stake. To name a Klingon’s father is to name his lineage, and with it his honour.

3.2 House names

A Klingon belongs to a house, and in formal speech he is named with it: of the House of Mogh, of the House of Martok, of the House of Duras. A house usually takes its name from its founder or from a notable head, and the name stands for the whole family line, its lands and its honour. A full formal name therefore runs: personal name, son or daughter of the father, of the House of its name. General Kortaq, of the House of Vreth, who commands at Narendra III in 2393, would be named so before the Council.

A Klingon born to no house of standing is named with his father alone. That is no shame in itself, though houses of standing have not always treated it so. The present Chancellor was born to such a family, and the house he heads now bears his name.

3.3 Using names

In ordinary speech a Klingon officer is named by rank and personal name: General Kortaq, Captain, Commander. The father and the house are used in formal settings. A Federation officer should not use a Klingon’s father’s name casually, and should never use it in jest; to speak lightly of a Klingon’s father is to speak lightly of his honour. Nor should a Federation officer comment on the standing of a Klingon’s house, good or bad, unless he means to start a conversation he cannot easily leave.

4. Words and Phrases

The table gives Klingon words a Federation officer is likely to hear, and their meaning as far as it can be put in Standard. All are in common use between Klingons and Federation people.

Some phrases come through most often in Standard. “Today is a good day to die” is said before battle and before any danger, and is meant: the speaker is ready. “Revenge is a dish best served cold” is known to the Federation as an old Klingon proverb. “Only a fool fights in a burning house” is said when a quarrel must wait for a greater danger to pass. A Federation officer may use the first and third with care. The second is best left to Klingons.

Insults deserve a word of their own. Klingon has a great many, and Klingons use them freely, sometimes in affection. A Federation officer should never return one, however friendly the exchange seems. An insult from an outsider is not the same thing as an insult from a comrade.

5. Ranks of the Klingon Defense Force

5.1 The ranks

The Klingon Defense Force uses a rank structure that maps roughly, but only roughly, onto Starfleet’s. Klingon ranks are usually heard in Standard translation, and that is how this article gives them, except for the lowest, bekk, which is commonly used untranslated. Klingon words exist for the other ranks; Federation officers rarely need them.

Federation records of the Klingon fleets of earlier centuries also show the title admiral. It is not commonly met in the twenty-fourth century, where the senior commanders of the Defense Force are generals. Starfleet officers should not assume that a Klingon general commands troops on the ground; most command ships.

5.2 Rank and position

Rank in the Defense Force is not the only measure of a Klingon officer. House, deeds and honour count for a great deal, and a general of a great house may carry more weight on the Council than his rank alone suggests. Field promotions after battle are common, and Klingon officers of humble birth have risen far by them.

Aboard a Klingon ship the captain’s authority is very great, and it rests on strength as well as rank. The first officer has a duty that surprises most Federation officers: if the captain shows himself weak or unfit to command, it is the first officer’s duty to remove him, by killing him if need be. Starfleet officers who have served as first officers aboard Klingon ships under the exchange have had to take this into account. For the Defense Force and its commands, including the Narendra Command, see The Klingon Defense Force.

6. Titles of State

Chancellor. The Chancellor leads the High Council and is the head of the Klingon government. Since 2375 the Chancellor has been Martok. He is addressed as “Chancellor”.

Councillor. A member of the High Council. Members of the Council speak for the great houses, and many are also senior officers of the Defense Force. A Councillor who is also a general may be addressed by either title; the military rank is usual in military settings.

Emperor. The Emperor is a ceremonial and spiritual figure, a title revived in 2369 for the clone of Kahless after it had stood empty for centuries. The Emperor does not govern. See Honour, Faith and Custom.

Arbiter of Succession. When a Chancellor dies, the Rite of Succession chooses his successor, and an Arbiter of Succession oversees it. The Arbiter need not be Klingon: in 2367 the dying Chancellor chose a Starfleet captain for the role. The Rite begins with the Sonchi, the ceremony that confirms the old leader’s death, and may include the ja’chuq, in which the candidates recite their deeds. Federation officers are unlikely to see the Rite, but it is worth knowing that it exists, and that a Federation officer has once stood at its centre. See The High Council and the Chancellor.

Head of House. The head of a Klingon house speaks for it. Heads of the great houses sit on the High Council or have the ear of those who do.

Governor. Klingon governors rule subject worlds and colonies in the Chancellor’s name. Krios, in 2367, had a Klingon governor. See Qo'noS and the Empire's Worlds.

7. Addressing a Klingon Officer

7.1 The rules

Use rank and name. “General Kortaq” or “General”; “Captain”; “Commander”. This is always correct and never gives offence.

Speak plainly. State the point first. Klingons regard long courtesies as a waste of time, and polite evasion as a kind of lie. If the answer is no, say no.

Do not flatter. Praise for a real deed is welcome. Praise for nothing is suspect.

Do not show fear. A Klingon will test a Federation officer, by shouting, by insult, by sudden challenge. The test is whether the officer holds his ground. He need not shout back. He must not give way.

Keep your word. A Federation officer who promises something to a Klingon officer must deliver it, or explain to his face why he could not. A broken promise will be remembered by the Klingon, by his crew and very possibly by his house.

Mind honour. Never call a Klingon a coward or a liar unless you mean it and are prepared for the answer. Never suggest that a Klingon is afraid. When asking a Klingon commander to stand down, give him a reason that does not touch his honour: a greater duty, a better moment, the needs of the alliance. Telling him he must stand down because he would lose is the surest way to make him fight.

Do not turn your back in anger. Turning one’s back on a Klingon is the gesture of discommendation, and is read as contempt.

7.2 On the border

Starfleet officers on the Romulan border will most often meet Klingon officers in ship-to-ship hails and joint operations. The rules above apply with greater force. A Klingon captain near the Zone shares the Federation’s adversary but not its methods, and a hail that sounds to him like an order from an ally he does not answer to will be received badly. A hail that treats him as a fellow commander, states the situation plainly and asks rather than tells will usually be heard. The Klingon general at the tri-border talks of 2390 accused the Federation of violating Klingon borders and left saying the Federation has no honour; Starfleet officers should expect to hear the charge again, and should answer it with facts and calm, not with argument about honour. See The Klingon Frontier in 2393 and The Alliance with the Federation.

7.3 Farewells

Klingons do not linger over farewells. “Qapla’” is always correct, from a Federation officer as from a Klingon, and is the best way to end any conversation with a Klingon officer, whether it has gone well or not.

8. See Also

The Klingon Empire · Honour, Faith and Custom · The Klingon Defense Force · The High Council and the Chancellor · The Great Houses · Klingon Biology · The Alliance with the Federation · The Klingon Frontier in 2393 · The Romulan Star Empire