[Tlhingan-hol] QangHom

[Steven Boozer]

Qov:
>>> chay' {QangHom} Damugh?

ghunchu'wI':
>>Absent context, I'd probably translate it as "Vice Chancellor". I
>>could also see it as referring to something like Chancellor-elect.

Qov:
> I can't argue with that and all your similar information. What I need
> to say is "Member of the Klingon High Council."
> 
> I can use {tlhIngan yejquv jeSwI'} and the like but I'd really like
> to have a title, like  "Councillor Foo"

AFAIK, there's no official translation.  (Anything in Monopoly or the paq'batlh?)  According to my notes, *{yejquv jeSwI'} has been used on the Mailing List before, coined possibly by charghwI'.  Glen Proechel preferred *{yejquv 'utlh}.

SkyBox card 25 may be useful:

  juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'. ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH
  pa' ghom tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'.  DaH che' ghawran. yejquv
  DevwI' moj ghawran 'e' wuqta' cho' 'oDwI' Dapu'bogh janluq
  pIqarD HoD. 

  On the Homeworld, there is a great hall where the leaders of
  the Klingon High Council meet to determine policy and decide
  upon the fate of the Empire. Gowron currently presides, named
  leader of the High Council by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who was
  acting as Arbiter of Succession. 

The English is somewhat ambiguous - does Okrand mean the current leaders (i.e. all the members) or the past Leaders of the Council (i.e. all the past chairmen) - but the Klingon seems a bit clearer.  

So {DevwI'} may be it, with the chairman being the {DevwI''a'} or {DevwI' quv} if you need to distinguish the two.  I'm not sure how any Klingon would feel about being called a *{DevwI'Hom}.  <g>  

As for using {-'a'} vs. {quv}, consider:

st.k 7/19/99:  {Qun'a'} "great god" ... may or may not be an appropriate translation for a single supernatural being in a monotheistic system, since the {Qun'a'} would still be one among many.

KGT 100f.:  ... the chef is the {vutwI'} ("cook"; in a large restaurant, the head chef is referred to as the {vutwI' quv}, the "honored cook").

HQ 12.3:8:  ... a delegate to the Klingon Empire could well be described as a {Duy quv} "honored emissary", but if it turned out that he or she was a spy, the phrase {Duy HoQ} "falsely honored emissary" would be appropriate.

Also look at {la'} commander, {la''a'} commandant, {la'quv} Supreme Commander; {ra'ghomquv} High Command; and even {yej} council, assembly vs. {yejquv} High Council.


> Sure a member might be {vu Sa'} or {vu Duy'a'} or {vu 'aj} but you
> see my problem.

I tend to use {qup} "elder" for this (especially for "senator"); cp. {quprIp} "Council of Elders".  I don't know if {qup} refers to an honored, traditional leader or just someone elderly.  In TOS "Errand of Mercy" Kor asked if the Council of Elders was "the ruling council" of Organia.  Okrand's use of "elder" in KGT:

KGT 133:  Klingons revere their ancestors, respect their elders, and have unparalleled veneration for heritage.

KGT 35:  Younger Klingons describe some of the vocabulary used by their elders as {mu'mey Doy'} ("tired words")...

KGT 90:  As he describes the thrill of his first hunt, Toq (Sterling Macer) reminds his elders of what it is to be Klingon.

KGT 133:  Younger Klingons, while accepting their heritage and observing the ancient rites, see some aspects of their elders' behavior and beliefs as, if not obsolete, then just old-fashioned.



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons