[tlhIngan Hol] new word: {tlhI'}

[Lieven L. Litaer]

I am currntly working on a kind of exercise book. THe german version has
been published, the English version will appear soon, but not before the
qep'a'.

The contents of the story is a young woman going to a convention. She
gets to a situation the get an actor give an autograph. I learned from
Maltz that one does not use {qI'} (sign a treaty) for that. Instead, use
{tlhI'} "sign, autograph" (verb and noun)

Quote from Marc Okrand:

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{qI’} is a verb meaning “sign” as when signing a treaty, contract, loan
agreement, etc.  It also means “register for” or “sign up for,”
typically used in reference to accounts (online or otherwise) but it’s
also used for signing up for a conference or class or even for auditions
for a team or show.

What underlies this is that something — an obligation or commitment or
pact or response or arrangement of some sort —  comes about as a result
of the signing (or signing up).

{qI’} can also be used for signing a petition. In this case, the signer
hopes for an action or response on the part of the recipient of the
petition, knowing, however, that it may not come to pass. What might
come about as a result of the signing is potential.

The signing (or signing up) need not be done by putting pen to paper or
the like. It can be electronic (e-signing) or anything else that is
recognized by the parties involved. {qI’} is still the verb used for this.

The object of {qI’} is the document (actual or electronic or whatever)
that the “signature” ends up on or associated with, thereby becoming
documentation of the commitment.

When one signs an autograph, there is no commitment or reponse involved.
A celebrity’s signature on a photo, for example, implies no expectation
that the celebrity (or anyone else) will or might do anything.
Accordingly, {qI’} is not appropriate here.

The verb used for signing an autograph is {tlhI’}. This is also the verb
to use for artists signing their works. This action involves making a
mark of some kind that is associated specifically with the mark maker.
This mark could be (and maybe usually is) the name of the signer (that
is, a signature) made in a distinctive way that only the signer uses,
perhaps in a form difficult to decipher by those unfamiliar with what it is.

As with {qI’}, the object of {tlhI’} is the document (or photo, work of
art, etc.) that the signature is applied to.

There is also a noun {tlhI’} that might best be translated as
“signature.” (It is not grammatical to say {tlhI’ tlhI’} “sign a
signature”; the verb {tlhI'} already includes the notion that the
resulting mark is a {tlhI’}. Well, {tlhI’ tlhI’} could be used, I
suppose, if one were to sign on top of an already-existing {tlhI’}.)

{bItlhI’ vIneH}, literally something like “I want you to sign,” would be
understood to mean “I want your autograph.” (Similarly: {paqwIj DatlhI’
vIneH} would be understood to mean “I want you to autograph my book.”)

Interestingly, {tlhI’} (both the noun and the verb) may also refer to
what an animal does to mark its territory.

To write (or make marks) in general is, of course {ghItlh}.
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Lieven L. Litaer
aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany"
https://tlhInganHol.com
https://klingon.wiki/En/KlingonAtConventions