tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 27 08:07:36 1998
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Re: K.L.I.? Rank
: Bill Tilton <[email protected]> wrote:
: > I need to place a military rank between Lieutenant {Sogh} and Commander
: > {la'} Which in navel or federation terms would be a Lieutenant Commander.
: > I've been told many possible combinations. If there were such a rank I
: > personally believe {la'Hom} lower or lesser commander to be correct. Any
: > thoughts on this or other rank designations would be appreciated
*{la'Hom} has been used fairly widely in fandom for some years now (I recall
that LCdr Kordite uses it to refer to himself). And *{'ajHom} is used on
TrekMUSE for "vice-admiral" or "rear admiral" as well. It also fits in
nicely with the other known occurences of {la'}:
jaghla' "enemy commander"
la' "commander"
la''a' "commandant" ["... the special title {la''a'} (commandant) is
used for officers in charge of certain specialized units within the
military, such as prison camps, regardless of the officers' official ranks."
(KGT 53)]
la'quv "Supreme Commander" ["The highest military officer, the head
of the Klingon High Command, is the {la'quv}, usually translated Supreme
Commander. There are nine ranks of officers (yaSpu') serving under the
{la'quv}, and below them are the troops (QaS), including some with titles."
(KGT 52)]
In view of the existance of {la''a'}, *{la'Hom} becomes a good option and I
can easily see some Klingon using this, at least to translate the unusual
Federation rank "lieutenant commander" between lieutenant and full
commander. Of course, s/he could also translate this as *{Sogh'a'}.
Whether these correspond to actual Klingon ranks is another matter.
A different approach would be to copy the Russian practice of having
"junior" and "senior" ranks: e.g. *mladshiy leytenant* "junior lieutenant"
(roughly the equivalent of a US "lieutenant j.g. (junior grade)" vs.
*starshiy leytenant* "senior lieutenant". I suppose {QIv} "be inferior" and
{nIv} "be superior" would correspond:
*la' QIv "junior commander"
*la' nIv "senior commander"
: I've been conducting Klingon sims for about 2 years now on irc, and we've
: always used cha'DIch la' for Lieutenant Commander. In fact, I believe I
: consulted this very list when I was putting together my rank structure...
If you'd
:
: Kreth
Clearly, this should grammatically be *{la' cha'DIch} "second commander" as
ordinal numbers *follow* the noun in Klingon:
"Ordinal numbers follow the noun: {meb cha'DIch} second guest." (TKD 54)
"Ordinal numbers follow the noun with which they are associated, as in
{'avwI' vaghDIch} (fifth guard), {nentay wa'DIch} (First Rite of Ascension)."
(KGT 176)
Word order aside, *{la' cha'DIch} and *{la' wa'DIch} isn't a bad solution to
the "two commander problem", copying the American practice of "second
lieutenant" (an ensign in the Navy) vs. a "first lieutenant" (a "lieutenant
j.g." in the Navy). We also know {wa'DIch} and {cha'DIch} are elsewhere
used in the Klingon rank/position structure:
"... regardless of their official ranks, those closest to the captain of a
ship are called {yaS wa'DIch} (first officer) and {yaS cha'DIch} (second
officer). Unlike the terms associated with specific duties, however, these
may be used as titles as well. It is correct to say both {qImlaq yaS wa'DIch}
(First Officer K'mlak) and {yaS wa'DIch ghaH qImlaq la''e'} (Commander K'mlak
is first officer)." (KGT 53)
Of these, I prefer Bill's original *{la'Hom} as an official rank. It has
the virtue of being one word and it's short, as are other Klingon ranks.
The two-word versions may be more appropriate for specific jobs or positions
unrelated to official rank. {ra'wI'} "commander" - "commanding officer"
would be a better translation - is a good example of this task oriented view:
"There is, in addition, a frequently misunderstood word, {ra'wI'}, which
is correctly, though misleadingly, translated as 'commander', as is {la'}.
The confusion comes about because {ra'wI'} literally means 'one who
commands', from the verb {ra'} (command, order) plus the suffix {-wI'}
(one who does [something]). Thus, a {ra'wI'} is, literally, someone who
gives an order. The word is generally used to refer to any officer of the
rank of {Sogh} or higher. It may be used as either a description ({ra'wI'
ghaH qImlaq'e'} [K'mlak is a commander] or a title ({qImlaq ra'wI'}
[Commander K'mlak]), though in all cases it is understood as not reflecting
the precise rank of the individual. Except for formal occasions, it is safe
to use the title {ra'wI'}. In fact, if one is not sure of an officer's rank,
it is probably the safest route to take." (KGT 52f)
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." - Horace, Ars Poetica