Type 2 noun suffixes

To indicate that there are more than one thing talked about, Type 2 noun suffixes are used. (1) These can only be attached to nouns.

Overview

Suffix	meaning
-pu'	plural for beings capable of using language
-Du'	plural for body parts
-mey	plural, general usage

Details

Plural for things

Tha basic suffix for things is -mey: Dujmey - ships

Plural for beings capable of language

For beings capable of language, the suffix -pu' is used: tlhInganpu' - Klingons

If the suffix -mey is used with beings capable of language, then the meaning is all over the place:

verenganmey - Ferengi all over the place

Plural for body parts

Body parts take the suffix -Du': qamDu' - feet

As a general rule, all nouns take their plural suffixes in accordance with their normal class, without regard for whether they are being used metaphorically or in slang. For instance, if the word Ho' tooth is used as a slang term for "hero" (2), it still takes the plural form of body parts Ho'Du', and not Ho'mey or Ho'pu'. Presumably this also applies when Ho' is used to mean tooth of a sprocket wheel (3). There are apparent exceptions to this rule - neb for example takes -Du' when used to mean beak but not when used to mean nozzle.

TKD says that "the suffix -mey cannot be used with body parts" and then immediately clarifies that in fact this is occasionally done in poetry as an example of Intentional Ungrammaticality. The title of the Klingon poetry journal, jatmey "Scattered Tongues" is an example of this.

See main article ➞ body parts for more details.

General

If there is some other indication of plurality, such as a number, then the plural suffix is not required: cha' tlhIngan OR cha' tlhInganpu' two Klingons, vagh Duj OR vagh Dujmey five ships.

This includes implied plurality in verb prefixes: tlhIngan maH We are Klingons, Duy DIlegh _We see the envoys. To indicate a single envoy, it would be Duy wIlegh.

Inherent plural

There are some nouns that have a plural meaning already. ➞ see main article about inherent plural

Other suffix types

Type	Sort	Suffixes
1	Size/Importance	-'a', -Hom, -oy
2	Number	-pu', -Du', -mey
3	Qualification	-Hey, -qoq, -na'
4	Possession/Specification	-wIj, -lIj, -vam, -vetlh
5	Syntactic Markers	-Daq, -vo', -mo', -vaD, -'e'

See also

• verb suffixes

References

1 : The Klingon Dictionary, chapter 3.3.2, p. 21

2 : Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, p. 152, chapter 5.2 "Slang"

3 : NewWordsQepa25