Re: qelI'qam

[Steven Boozer <sboozer@midway.uchicago.edu>]

SuStel wrote:
> >>Can someone point me to any place in Okrand's writings where he specifies
> >>the length of a /qelI'qam/? I see a claim of approximately 2 kilometers in
> >>various fan pages on the Internet, but I'd like to know if Okrand agrees
> >>with this.
> >
> > The source of the conversion factor is Star Trek Encyclopedia.  Whether or
> > not Marc Okrand agrees, he apparently accommodates it.
>
>And how does he accommodate it?  Do you mean he hasn't contradicted it?

AFAIK he's never discussed kellicams.  He just translated two lines from 
the movies:

   vaghvatlh qelI'qam
   [Five hundred kellicams. (untr.)] ST3

   chorghSaD qelI'qam HIvchuq 'e' vInoH.
   Estimating attack range in 8,000 kellicams. ST5

I wonder:  In these scenes from ST3 and ST5, were the equivalent 
measurements given from the Enterprise's POV in kilimeters?  I don't remember.

On the BoP poster, all the measurements are given in {'ujmey} and 
{loghqammey}.  When the poster came out, someone figured out that 1 
{loghqam} is 1.25 light years.  If we know the relationship between 
{loghqam} and {qelI'qam}, you might be able to do something with these data:

   jabbI'ID pup: Qapchu'meH 'aqroS chuq: cha' vI' chorgh loghqammey
   High Resolution - Maximum Effective Range - 3.5 Light Years

   jabbI'ID pupHa': Qapchu'meH chuq: chorgh vI' chorgh loghqammey
   Medium to Low Resolution - Effective Range - 11 Light Years

FYI: Someone said in ST3 that the attack (firing) range for a B'rel-class 
BoP is approximately 1500 kellicams.  Unfortunately, the poster is 
describing the B'rel's science and remote sensing systems.

For the sake of completeness, the other terms of linear measurement are the 
{'uj} (about 35 cm.) and {'uj'a'} (about 3.15 m.)  chargwI' discussed 
measures with Okrand:

   "There is a unit of measure called {'uj'a'}. It is nine times longer than an
    {'uj}. I wondered if an {'ujHom} would be one ninth of an {'uj}. Okrand
    explicitly said that no such measurement existed."

Again, no mention was made of how many {'ujmey} or {'uj'a'mey} are in a 
{qelI'qam}.


-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons