Noun

A noun is a word which represents things, people, places or concepts. There are several types of nouns in Klingon(1).

Simple nouns

Simple nouns have one syllable.
Example: veQ garbage, Duj ship.

Compound nouns

See main article ➞ compound noun

The noun-noun construction

See main article ➞ noun-noun construction

Verbs with the suffix -wI'

Verbs can take the Type 9 suffix -wI' one/thing which does, and the resulting word is a noun which can take all noun suffixes. Other verb suffixes can be added before -wI', provided no other Type 9 suffix is used.
Examples: bomwI' singer (from bom sing), wochwI' tall one (from woch to be tall)
Note: some nouns appear to be verb+wI' (De'wI' computer), but there is no known verb De'

Verbs with the suffix -ghach

Some verbs with suffixes can take the Type 9 suffix -ghach which effectively makes a noun, somewhat similar to the English endings -ation or -ness.

See main article on the suffix ➞ -ghach

Other complex nouns

Some multi-syllable nouns may appear to be compound nouns, but not all the individual syllables are recognized as nouns. No assumption should be made nor any meaning assumed for any syllable in these nouns. They are treated as regular nouns in all constructions.
Example: jInmol project (jIn appears in pu'jIn map, plan, but does not exist by itself. And mol grave has no apparent connection to jInmol)

Proper nouns (personal names and placenames) often have more than one syllable, but the origin of these names is unknown and they are treated as regular nouns in all constructions.
Example: wo'rIv Worf, Qo'noS Kronos, qIvo'rIt K'vort-class ship

See also

• Noun Suffixes

References

1 : The Klingon Dictionary, p. 19