Okrand's Notes

Much of our knowledge of Klingon stems from a single informant, the
prisoner Maltz. It was through his cooperation that The Klingon
Dictionary was made possible. In the time since its publication, we are
pleased to report that Marc Okrand has found and deciphered some notes
not previously known to exist. While brief and fragmentary, they are
invaluable, and provide hope that still other materials exist somewhere,
awaiting discovery. Here then are the new lexical items as provided by
Dr. Okrand:

1. weather -- The Klingon word for "weather," meaning the state of
the atmosphere, is the same as the word for "atmosphere" itself, muD.
When inquiring about specific weather conditions at a specific time and/or
place, the expression muD Dotlh (literally, "atmosphere status") is used.

2. musical terminology -- There is some kind of relationship between
Klingon and Terran music, but it's rather like two circles which only partially
overlap. As a result, there is much, both musically and terminologically,
which we do not yet understand. Nevertheless, here's a start:

"music," meaning musical sound, whether or not a Klingon voice is
participating in producing this sound, is QoQ.

"sing" is bom. But a better translation might be "chant."

"song" is likewise bom, And the noun "chant" might likewise be
somewhat closer to the mark as a translation.

"lyric(s)" is bom mu'.

"compose" is qon. Actually, this is the word translated in TKD as the
verb "record," meaning to make a record of something (whether this
record be written or a digital recording or an old-fashioned wax cylinder
or anything). Apparently Klingon songs are not composed by anybody
-- they're just out there, waiting to be hunted down, trapped, and
logged (that is, written down and/or taught to others).

3. ear -- Actually, there are two words for "ear":

qogh refers to the flap of skin or cartilage or whatever it is that sticks out
on either side of the head.

teS refers to the organ of hearing, inside the head.

qogh "ear," of course is homophonous with qogh, "belt." When used
in context, there is seldom confusion; less so when the plural is used
(qoghDu' can only be "ears" while qoghmey generally means "belts").
This homophony explains why the Klingon slang expression qogh
tuQmoHHa', literally "take off one's belt" is used to mean "to not hear,"
for example, qogh vItuQmoHHa'pu' "I've taken off my belt; your secret
is safe with me."

4. win/lose -- "To win" a competition is Qap. (If it's a decisive or
particularly gratifying victory, they'd say Qapchu', even though that's a bit
redundant.) In TKD, Qap is translated as "succeed, work, function." To a
Klingon, to win is to function perfectly. The opposite notion, "lose," is
commonly luj, also meaning "fail."

5. mark (upon) -- "To mark (upon)" something is ghItlh. This isn't
just writing; it's any kind of marking. (Note that ghItlh, "to write," refers to
the physical act of writing. It doesn't mean "to create a composition.")

6. with -- In the sense of "accompanied by," "with" is usually
translated by a phrase employing the verb tlhej, "accompany." (there's a
typo in the English-Klingon section of TKD: tlhej is erroneously tagged as a
noun.) Thus, "I drink tea with Torg and Maltz" would be:

Dargh vItlhutlhDI' mutlhej torgh matlh je. (literally, "when I drink
tea, Torg and Maltz accompany me.") or

Dargh vItlhutlh. mutlhej torgh matlh je. ("I drink tea. Torg and
Maltz accompany me.") or

Dargh vItlhutlh 'ej mutlhej torgh matlh je. ("I drink tea, and Torg
and Maltz accompany me.")