"We know that the name of the book itself, {paq'batlh}, is some form of {no' Hol}. It is grammatically backwards from what we find in modern Klingon (where it would be {batlh paq} or "honor book"). The character we are rendering with an apostrophe in {paq'batlh} may be a clue to some missing grammatical element in {no' Hol} that may explain the transposition of words. ... The rendering of {no' Hol} words into roman letters is meant to mimic the system used to transliterate modern Klingon, but further study may show that another romanization system may be more revealing." (paq'batlh intro p. xxx)

QImSIr

On Thursday, January 5, 2017, Alan Anderson <qunchuy@alcaco.net> wrote:

On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 1:01 AM, Anthony Appleyard <a.appleyard@btinternet.com> wrote:
Does Klingon language allow bahuvrihi compounds?

I don't see why that sort of metaphor would be forbidden in general. The Klingon Christmas Carol play opens with a passage including the phrase "dead as a {HIp Doq}", (it's translated as "red shirt"), which is exactly the kind of usage you're talking about.

But I also don't see how {paq'batlh} fits the idea. The in-universe explanation of the anomalous apostrophe is that it's a remnant of the older pronunciation/spelling seen in the first part of the book. Decoding that "ancient" text gives a lot of insight into the "ancient" word order and affixes.

-- ghunchu'wI'