[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: HI'tuy

[jaSwa']

The Klingon Empire was a dictatorship under Molor and it was a dictatorship under Kahless (until he was crowned, then it's a form of monarchy). The Klingon chancellors are essentially dictators as they have absolute control over the empire and the only answer to a chancellor's order is either to follow or respond with force of arms. The High Council does not seem to vote on the chancellor's actions or decisions. A chancellor can strip you of your rank, house, land and holdings by his own approval, can wage war or peace as he sees fit and has total control of the military. A dictator becomes a tyrant when his or her abuse of power start to become harmful or oppressive, which describes Molor. That said, in relation to him, I could interpret HI''a' as "tyrant," but I'd probably be more inclined to go with something like "overlord."

jaSwa'

Hochlogh bechjaj Hoch jaghpu'wI'

Steven Boozer <sboozer at uchicago.edu> wrote:

>> >> Klingon word:   HI'tuy
>> >> Part of speech: noun
>> >> Definition:     dictatorship
>
>Voragh:
>>>Related words:
>>>
>>>HI'  	dictator
>>>
>>> romuluS HI' vImuS
>>> I detest the Romulan dictator. KGT
>>>
>>>HI''a'  	(tyrant?)
>>>
>>>nItebHa' molor HI''a' SuvvIpghach puj je HarghmeH yeq chaH
>>> United to do battle together! Against fear and against weakness! PB
>
>
>jaSwa':
>> I wouldn't translate HI''a' as "tyrant," because "dictator" doesn't
>
>So how would you translate it?
>
>> have an inherently negative meaning and only started to be used
>> negatively within the last seventy years or so. [...] Contrast to
>> "tyrant," which inherently has a negative meaning while a dictator
>> is simply an absolute ruler that isn't a monarch.
>
>Perhaps that's its usage on Earth, but in Klingon culture Molor is always referred to as "the tyrant Molor" - the epitome of evil.  In fact there's a common simile:  {mIgh; molor rur} "evil as Molor".  Molor is called a tyrant by Okrand in KCD and several times in KGT:
>
>KCD:  The weapon [bat'leth] is deeply rooted in Klingon history beginning with Kahless's defeat of the tyrant Molor.
>
>KGT 130:  Molor was the tyrannical and hated ruler of the Homeworld until he was killed by Kahless, who in turn established the Klingon Empire.
>
>KGT 8:  Klingon mythology holds that over 1,500 years ago, Kahless the Unforgettable actually created the Klingon Empire by overthrowing the tyrant Molor. [...] Before Kahless united them, however, the peoples of Kronos, the Klingon Homeworld, consisted of disparate groups (despite Molor's unpopular rule over all of them), with different customs and sometimes different languages.
>
>KGT 123:  The phrase [{Doq bIQtIq bIQ}] can be traced back to an old drinking song that commemorates the slaying of the tyrant Molor by Kahless. On that day, according to the song, the River Skral ran red; that is, it was filled with the blood of Molor.
>
>So although it's not actually translated in the above verse (PB p.118-19), {molor HI''a'} can only mean "the tyrant Molor" especially when contrasted with Kahless.  (Does {HI''a'} appear anywhere else in the paq'batlh?)
>
>
>--
>Voragh
>Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
>
>
>
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