tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 15 07:17:40 2007

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Re: Klingon WOTD: yejquv (noun)

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, May 15, 2007.
>
>Klingon word:   yejquv
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition:     High Council

Used in canon:

yejquv vaS'a' vISuch vIneH
I want to visit the Great Hall of the High Council. CK

juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'.  ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH pa' ghom 
tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'.
On the Homeworld, there is a great hall where the leaders of the Klingon 
High Council meet to determine policy and decide upon the fate of the 
Empire. S25

DaH che' ghawran. yejquv DevwI' moj ghawran 'e' wuqta' cho' 'oDwI' 
Dapu'bogh janluq pIqarD HoD.
Gowron currently presides, named leader of the High Council by Captain 
Jean-Luc Picard, who was acting as Arbiter of Succession. S25

DuraS tuq tlhIngan yejquv patlh luDub 'e' reH lunIDtaH DuraS be'nI'pu' 
lurSa' be'etor je.
The sisters of the House of Duras, Lursa and B'Etor, are constantly seeking 
a higher standing for the House of Duras within the Klingon High Council. S26

Cultural notes:

"Among the higher classes, one is born into an ancestral unit known as a 
{tuq}, normally translated 'house'. Some houses are particularly wealthy, 
controlling vast lands by means of armed forces loyal to the particular 
house. Other houses have far less influence and, for survival, often form 
alliances with the larger houses. Each house is led by the eldest male 
direct descendent of the previous leader (there are complex traditions 
dealing with what happens if there is no male heir), and the heads of the 
larger houses--that is, those with the greatest holdings and strongest 
forces­have seats on the Klingon High Council ({tlhIngan yejquv}), the body 
that rules the Empire. Since the number of seats on the Council is limited, 
many houses are not directly represented, are not as influential in Klingon 
society, and therefore occupy a slightly lower social position. [...] A 
house's place in society may also be adversely affected by the behavior of 
its leadership. If the High Council determines an action to be 
dishonorable, not only may it remove the leader of a house from the Council 
itself, it may also seize the house's lands, forces, and other holdings." 
(KGT 36-38)

"it is definitely worth putting forth whatever effort may be required to 
become familiar with regionalisms if one expects to travel around the 
Empire, especially to places distant from the First City or to regions in 
which there may be some dissatisfaction with the current leadership of the 
High Council." (KGT 31)

"In this case, the leader of the Klingon High Council typically wears a 
ceremonial cape. The slang sense of {ngup} does not refer only to this 
position on the High Council, however, but to anyone in power or even to 
'the power structure'." (KGT 157)

"in the ceremony to induct new members into the Order of the Bat'leth 
({betleH 'obe'}), the highest honor that the government bestows on a 
Klingon, the presiding official, usually the leader of the Klingon High 
Council?" (KGT 183)

Related nouns:

{yejquv DevwI'}  "Leader of the High Council".  (Cf. also {Qang} 
"chancellor".)  Gowron is addressed as {DevwI'} by his weapons officer 
ChaqI in the "ST:Klingon!" novelization:

   "{DevwI'}," she said. "The Tagana is prepared. We await your orders." 
(p. 77)

   "No, {DevwI'}!" ChaqI said. (p. 101)

{quprIp} "Council of Elders" (e.g. Ayelborne is the chairman - {DevwI'}? - 
of the village Council of Elders on Organia. [TOS "Errand of Mercy"])



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






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