Editing Klingon language (section)

==Vocabulary==
A design principle of the Klingon language is the great degree of lexical-cultural correlation in the vocabulary. For example, there are several words meaning "to fight" or "to clash against", each having a different degree of intensity. There is an abundance of words relating to warfare and weaponry and also a great variety of curses (cursing is considered a fine art in Klingon culture). This helps lend a particular character to the language.

There are many in-jokes built into the language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kli.org/wiki/Puns_in_the_Vocabulary_of_tlhIngan_Hol |title=Puns in the Vocabulary of tlhIngan Hol |access-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124105837/https://www.kli.org/wiki/Puns_in_the_Vocabulary_of_tlhIngan_Hol |archive-date=November 24, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For example, the word for "pair" is {{mono |changʼeng}}, a reference to the original "[[Siamese twins]]" [[Chang and Eng Bunker]]; a {{mono |leSpal}} is a mid-size stringed instrument, comparable to a [[guitar]] (i.e. [[Les Paul]]);<ref name="Okrent" /> a "chronometer" is {{mono |tlhaq}} (pronounced similar to "clock"); the word for "torture" is {{mono |joy}}; "[[hangover]]" is {{mono |ʼuH}}, and the word for "fish" is ''[[Ghoti|{{mono |ghotIʼ}}]]''.<ref name="Okrent" />

Sources for the vocabulary include English (albeit heavily disguised), and also [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]: {{mono |SaʼHut}} for "buttocks" (from [[wikt:תּחת|תּחת]] ''tuches'' spelled backwards),<ref name="Okrent" /> and {{mono |ʼoyʼ}} for "ache, pain, sore" (cf. ''[[oy vey]]'').<ref>{{cite book |last=Okrand |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Okrand |title=The Klingon Dictionary |year=1992 |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=0-671-74559-X |edition=2nd: i.e., with addendum |url=https://archive.org/details/klingondictionar00okra }}</ref>

Many English words do not have direct translations into Klingon. To express "hello", the nearest equivalent is {{mono |nuqneH}}, meaning "What do you want?",<ref name="Okrent"/> with "goodbye" translated as {{mono |Qapla'}}, "Success!".