In July of 2018 the Klingon Language Institute (KLI) will be hosting the 25th qep'a'. Klingon speakers have been gathering for a quarter century and the language has developed greatly in that time. 2018 is also the 25th anniversary of the publication of the audiobook Power Klingon by Marc Okrand and Barry Levine. In that audio book we learn about some special kinds of proverbs. The book tells us of Replacement Proverbs and explains that one uses the proverbs "to replace lost respect with newly earned respect after one has been embarrassed in a public setting." Replacement Proverbs "relate to the restoration of credibility." We also learned about Secrecy Proverbs which are "used in situations where you want to show that you can keep a secret under *any* conditions." A few years ago, our members were able to help us discover one new Replacement Proverb (jagh yIbuStaH! "Focus on the enemy!") and one new Secrecy Proverb ('Iw HIq yap tu'lu'be'. "Sufficient bloodwine does not exist."). Now for the 25th anniversary of the Power Klingon audio book and the 25th qep'a', we are looking for your help to discover more new proverbs.
The search is being held as a competition which will result in us having one new Replacement Proverb and one new Secrecy Proverb. The rules are as follows:
- To enter you must be registered as a member of the KLI (including both guest and paid memberships). By being a member of the KLI you may submit one proverb, either one Replacement Proverb OR one Secrecy Proverb. No purchase is necessary and the free KLI guest membership is the minimum requirement to be able to participate.
- In addition, qep'a' Supporting Membership purchased by June 25, 2018 allows a member to also submit a proverb in the other category, meaning they may submit one Replacement Proverb AND one Secrecy Proverb.
- Those who have purchased Attending Membership for the qep'a' by June 25, 2018 will be allowed to submit a total of two Replacement Proverbs AND two Secrecy Proverbs.
- To sign up for a guest or paid membership to the KLI go to https://www.kli.org/membership-account/membership-levels/. To purchase either a Supporting or Attending membership for the qep'a' go to https://www.kli.org/activities/qepmey/qepa-chamah-vaghdich/qepa-registration/
- All proverbs must be submitted online by June 26, 2018 and submissions will not be accepted at the qep'a'.
- All submissions must be in Klingon. It is also recommended that you submit a suggested English translation, but your entry will be judged based on the Klingon version and it is possible that an alternate English translation will be given to a winning entry.
- Submit your entries at https://www.kli.org/proverb_contest/
After all entries have been received, they will be evaluated by a panel of experienced Klingon grammarians and a list of the best suggestions will be passed on to Marc Okrand. Marc Okrand will then review the list with Maltz to see which proverbs spark a memory that they are in fact proverbs that he had forgotten about. At the qep'a' one new Replacement Proverb and one new Secrecy Proverb will be announced and the individuals who submitted those suggestions will also be commended for recognizing a proverb that Maltz could identify. Maybe it will be you!