tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 22 13:01:53 2004

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Re: {qI'} (was Klingon WOTD: qeD)

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

SuSvaj:
> > ..."qI'" refers narrowly to the act of signing.
> > Placing ones signature on the paper (or data padd as the case may be).

IIRC, the only time we've ever seen Klingons actually signing a treaty, 
rather than merely talking about it (as in ST6) was in the last season of 
DS9:  Gowron withdrew from the Khitomer Accords over his war with the 
Cardassians, but later agreed to honor the Accords once again and engage in 
joint missions with the Federation.  In a surprisingly informal manner (in 
DS9's sick bay I believe), once Gowron agreed to his terms, Sisco pulled 
out a PADD he just happened to have with him and Gowron pressed his thumb 
to it, thereby "signing" the treaty again.

ngabwI':
> > I thought so, too, until I ran across this word. According to Voragh,
> > IIRC, this verb has never been used in canon, and there are some on this
> > list (myself included) that believe that the use of "sign (a treaty)" as
> > its gloss is meant to indicate that this verb applies to the act of
> > signing a document, an autograph, a guest book, *or* a treaty.

I'm one of them.

BTW, my take on the {qI'} question is that Okrand meant to disambiguate 
"sign (a treaty)" from "sign" (i.e. gesture or use sign language).  Thus 
"(a treaty)" doesn't limit it to only signing treaties, but rather to 
indicate which homonym he had in mind.  If you look through the 
English-Klingon glossary in TKD, you'll see that he does this in several cases.

However rare it would be for most of us to use the verb "sign" in this 
manner, we need to remember that Okrand worked for the Closed Captioning 
Institute (for all I know, he still does) and probably heard it used every 
day and, therefore, felt he needed to show which "sign" he meant.  In fact, 
I would be surprised if Okrand, being an academically trained linguist, 
hasn't learned American Sign Language and learned to sign himself.

Does anybody know whether Okrand has ever commented on {qI'} at a qep'a' or 
other convention?

QuljIb:
>Hmm..Interpereted *that* way, {qI'} could mean no just signing one's
>name, but it could also mean -- among other things:
>
>    Writing a florid monogram
>    Affixing a wax seal to a letter
>    Pressing your slit thumb against a DNA analyzer
>    Dipping your hand in ink and leaving a print
>
>Or anything else one might accept as unique and identifying.

Or using a ink stamp (i.e. a Chinese-style "chop"), or pressing your thumb 
on a PADD, or something else entirely.  Do *you* know how Klingons 
traditionally "sign" documents?



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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