Syllable: Smallest sequence of phonemes that can stand on its own, often considered the building blocks of words. Note that a division of words into syllables does not apply to all languages, but it's useful enough for Klingon.

Onset, Anlaut: First sound(s) of a syllable, necessarily a consonant in Klingon (except for the suffix -oy)

Nucleus, Kern: Most prominent part of the syllable. Has to be a vowel in Klingon, but can be a consonant in some languages (i. e. Slovak "krv" (meaning blood, the nucleus is "r") or the second syllable in English "little"; for some speakers, the nucleus is the "l"). Every syllable must consist of at least a nucleus.

Coda, Auslaut: Last sound(s) of a syllable, usually a (or several) consonant(s). Klingon syllables do not need to have a coda.

Boundary: Onset or coda or both. Can also be the nucleus, if a syllable lacks either onset or coda. Rhyme: Nucleus and coda (if present) taken together

Open (free) vs. closed (checked) syllable: A syllable without a coda is said to be open, a syllable with a coda is closed. Both are possible in Klingon.

Phonotactics: A language's rules how to combine phonemes into syllables. Klingon phonotactic rules are:

• Consonant-vowel (CV)

• Consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC)

• Consonant-vowel-w/y-' (CV{w,y}')

• Consonant-vowel-rgh (CVrgh)

Consonant cluster: Two or more consonants pronounced without vowels in-between. Only three consonant clusters are possible in Klingon, namely w', y' (though these are debatable) and rgh, and all of these only in the coda. Note that consonants neighbouring across syllables (f.ex. Eng-lish or tlh Han-Dogh) may not be considered clusters, unless there are phonotactic rules governing them.

Stress, accent: General word to denote relative emphasis given to a part of a word or sentence. Stress is phonemic in English (compare "minute" and "minute") and can be phonemic in Klingon where it distinguishes roots from affixes (compare Dabej and Dabej )

Word stress: Emphasis on a syllable in a word, usually marked by increased loudness, vowel length, full articulation of a vowel or tone/pitch.

Sentence stress, prosodic stress: Emphasis on a word or word-part in a sentence.