[tlhIngan Hol] 2018 qep'a' Wish List

[Steven Boozer]

>>> - judge (verb) (as in "the court will judge the accused")

SuStel: 
>> I feel confident that *noH* works just fine here.

Lieven:
> I was never sure it does. When it was used in STV, it seemed more
> to mean like "guess", also since the gloss adds "estimate". So I think
> it's not what a judge does on court.

nI'ghma:
< I was under the impression that {noH} is to be used only to say something
< like "I judge/estimate the range is four kellicams", and not to say "the court
< will judge the accused".

AFAIK we have only the one example of {noH}:

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

Note that we also have the verb {loy} "guess" (no examples AFAIK) and the three verbs for "predict":  {'aq} predict (based on deductive reasoning or science), {qut} predict (fraudulently or as an act), {ghut} predict (based on intuition or a wild guess).

Lieven:
> When one judges a person, they do not "estimate". He does not say
> "I think it's three feet", he says "I now judge you for your crimes".

SuStel:
>> I do think they estimate. They estimate the application of the law in the
>> case. If justice could be obtained with a simple measurement, there would
>> be no need for judges.

nI'ghma:
< The only word close enough to the desired meaning is {ghIpDIj}, but this
< covers only military courts. Of course on Qo'noS, perhaps there are no
< other kind of courts.
<
< But it is strange, to write something referring to a court on earth, which isn't
< a military one, and use {ghIpDIj}.

It may be that Klingon judges don't "judge" in Klingon, they {loH} "administer" justice {ruv} or the law {chut}.  Archer's trial for conspiring against the Klingon Empire and fomenting revolt was presided over by a magistrate. (ENT "Judgment").  We know that there was a magistrate at Qu'Vat Colony:

  loHwI' vISuch 'e' vIpoQ 
  I demand to see the magistrate!  (ENT "Affliction")

... though the doomed test subject at the genetics research facility there didn't get to see him. 

Klingons also have arbiters, e.g. the Arbiter of Succession {cho' 'oDwI'}:

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

For comparison... a Bajoran arbiter is apparently stationed on or visits DS9 regularly to enforce Bajoran laws (DS9 "Dax", "Little Green Men", "Crossfire", etc.)  However during the Dominion War Odo refers to "the Federation magistrate" on the station (DS9 "Time's Orphan") or just "the magistrate" who'll decide whether the Changeling Laas would be extradited to Kronos for killing a Klingon (DS9 "Chimera").

Considering Star Trek is a space opera we have a fair amount of legal vocabulary, no doubt because trials are inherently dramatic.  Here's a partial list for reference:

loHwI' 		magistrate (n)
'oDwI'		arbiter (n)
chut qeSwI'  	lawyer (n)
qama'  		prisoner (n)
'avwI'		guard (n)

bo'DIj 		court [of law] (n)
pum  		accusation (n)
ruv 		justice (n)
chut		law (n)
teblaw' 	jurisdiction (n)
meqba' 	[portion of a trial/appeal in which evidence is heard] (n)
nompuq  	evidence,  attestation,  reference (n)
yoj 		judgment (n)
bIghHa' 	prison (n)

ghIpDIj 		court martial (v)
'oD 		arbitrate, mediate (v)
qop 		arrest (v)
pum  		accuse (v)
tem 		deny (v)
yu'  		question,  interrogate (v)
joy' 		torture (v)
DIS 		confess (v)
wuq 		decide (v)
qIch 		condemn (v)
naDHa' 	discommend (v)
muH  		execute, put to death (v)


"Tell it to the arbiter!"  (Odo to Quark, DS9 "Little Green Men")

--
Voragh
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