Intentional Ungrammaticality

Intentional Ungrammaticality is the title of a section of chapter 5 in Marc Okrand's third book, Klingon for the Galactic Traveler (1). It describes several possibilities to break rules of grammar intentionally, usually to express things that are not possible to express otherwise, or to put emphasis on something. You could compare it with the use of common phrases like "it ain't" or "there's people in the street".

Examples

• paghDIch the zeroth = the before-first
• HochDIch the allth = the last
• paghlogh zero times = never
• Hochlogh all times = always
• combining -lu' + -laH = -luH or -la'

Additions

about tu'lu'

Since the prefix lu- has been omitted in combination with tu'lu' very often where lutu'lu' was expected, Okrand has explained that it is a set form: lutu'lu' is grammatically correct, but tu'lu' is okay too.(2) ➞ See There is.

the qepHom'a'

The qepHom in Germany has grown over the years, so that the word qepHom does not fit the meaning of the -Hom diminutive suffix anymore. Since the word "qepHom" somehow has become a name of its own, Okrand has mentioned that it should be okay to add the augmentative suffix -'a' to it, to form qepHom-'a', literally "a great minor meeting". (3)

See also

• Klingon Grammar Addendum
• Contradictory Rules

References

1 : Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, p. 176-180

2 : Robyn Stewart in a message to the KLI mailing list of Tue, 2 Sep 2014 23:22:06 -0700

3 : Conversation between Agnieszka Solska and Marc Okrand, reported around 2005

Chapters of Klingon for the Galactic Traveler 1. Introduction • 2. The Fiction of Klingon Conformity 2.1. Klingon Dialects 2.2. Regional Variation • 3. Argot: Specialized Vocabulary 3.1. Warfare 3.2. Music 3.3. Visual Arts 3.4. Food • 4. Idioms 4.1. Common Idioms 4.2. Similes • 5. Language Change and Staying Current 5.1. Generational Differences 5.2. Vocabulary: Slang 5.3. The Changing Rules: Acceptable Deviation • 6. Avoiding Gaffes 6.1. Phonetic Perils 6.2. Direct Address 6.3. Mismatched Concepts