"J" is not a letter.

J is for... J!

J is not a letter - not in the Vulcan language, anyway.

A lot of people spell Vulcan words according to the Federation Standard pronunciation and alphabet. For instance:

T'hy'la instead of t'hai'la (the letter "y" is not used as a vowel in vulcan)
Eit'jae instead of eit'dzhae

X is not in the Vulcan alphabet either, but seems to have been used in words regardless. The correct spelling, for example, of "Xon" would be "Kson" when using Vulcan symbols.

The Vulcan alphabets, as taught by the Vulcan Language Institute:

Traditional Golic Vulcan:
S T P K R L A D O E V U H G Ch I N Z M Y F W B Sh Th Kh Zh Ts Dzh Ks

Modern Golic Vulcan:
S T P K R L A Sh O U D V Kh E H G Ch I N Zh M Y F Z Th W B

My Favorite Vulcans - Taluhk Vuhlkansular T'nash-veh - HQ

Vulcans I hold an affinity for (in no particular order, and for differing reasons):

Soval - ENT

Spock - TOS/TNG

Sybok - TOS (movies)

Sarek - TOS/TNG

Taurik - TNG

Vorik - VOY

Surak - TOS (ENT)

Saavik  - TOS (Movies) (Half Romulan)

T'Pau - TOS (ENT)

Syran  (Arev) - ENT

Unnamed Vulcan Master -VOY

Tuvok  - VOY

T'Pol - ENT

Surak Preaches C'thia to Children on Vulcan

I was locked out of my house after work the other day for about an hour, with nothing to do. Luckily, I just so happened to have some pens on me, and there was a recycling bin in the parking lot. I walked over, opened the recycling bin, and picked out a manilla envelope. I proceeded to draw a picture of Surak about an inch by a half inch big.

When I scanned it onto the computer, the quality of the lines were terrible. They still are. That's what happens when something is enlarged 500 percent or so. I colored it on Sumo Paint, but I ha to use my mouse because I don't have a tablet as of yet.

Surak always seemed like a Vulcan "Jesus" to me. He came into the world when it was at it's worst as showed them another way. C'thia - Reality-truth. I loosely based Surak's robe here off of the one he wore in The Savage Curtain.

I don't know what's going on with his mouth, though.

S'chn T'Gai Spock and James Tiberius Kirk

I got a few free cards at a convention about half a year ago from Star Trek Master Series (Skybox). Because of this, I had some doubles when somebody else gave me the complete set.

I also had a few random encyclopedias from the fifties and sixties (Young People's Encyclopedia) that were laying around my room taking up space. So I did the only creatively logical thing - I made the encyclopedias into sketch/scrap books and duct taped the extra cards onto a painted surface. I added names, and some phrases that I felt fit the character, what they believed, and how they were seen by others.

Two of my favorites were Spock's and Kirk's pages, because of their contrast. Spock's logic and Kirk's intuition - these opposite approaches compliment each other perfectly in every way.

The quote on Spock's page is Surak's - "Can you return life to what you kill? Then be slow to take life." This is one of my favorite quotes, and I have used it before here. The script down the right side is found on most diplomatic Vulcan robes, as well as Spock's meditation robes. It has been suggested that Rata Tafar Tapan (Concept Discipline Process) appearing together as a trinity may have the poetic meaning ‘Branches entwined form the tree’. The symbol on the left is "ozhika" or "logic".

Spock's family name was given as "S'chn T'gai" in one of my favorite Star trek novels, "Ishmael".

 

For Kirk's page I wanted to use a quote that represented him in a significant way, but one that came from the show. I decided to use the quote "intuition, however illogical, is recognized as a command prerogative" from the episode "Obsession". I got kind of bored half way through doing this page, so it is very plain and uninspired compared to Spock's.

The art for these cards was done by the wonderful Keith Birdsong.

More Vulcan-Inspired Art - Vulcan Salute

For the last few posts I have been focusing on some of my Star Trek art and crafts, and this is no different. This piece, however, is one of my favorites:

This is an exact mold of my hand, created using wax and plaster. In fact, I am pretty sure a criminal could use this to leave fingerprints at crime scenes.

On the palm is the word "tafar" (discipline) in ancient Vulcan calligraphy, and on the base is one of my favorite quotes by Surak:

"Kup-fun-tor ka'kiv na-ish du stau? Dom nam-tor vohris nem-tor ha'kiv."

"Can you return life to what you kill? Then be slow to take life."

After a show one time, the hand fell to the ground and all of the fingers snapped off, with the entire tip of one being lost. Luckily, I was able to put it back together, mix plaster to a thick consistency so that I could mold it into the tip (you can see the piece that I replaced), and repaint it. Good as new!

Captain Spock.

A while ago when I told a friend that I got a Captain Spock figure I got this response:
"Since when was Spock ever a Captain?"
I had never been more ashamed. He called himself a trekkie, and didn't believe me when I said that Spock was a Captain from the Wrath of Khan until he became an ambassedor. He told me he didn't know Spock was ever an ambassador, either. I have since forgiven him.

In my last post I was writing about the time I went to the Comic and Toy expo, and I mentioned this figure: Diamond Select: Star Trek II Wrath of Khan collection, Series 2: Captain Spock.

He looks so mighty, with his novel and communicator.

This particular figure is my favorite, because he looks so sharp and in control. Also, I loved these uniforms! They made everybody look amazing, unlike those in the Motion Picture. Those were just terrible, and they knew it.

There's just something about those ears.

Surak: the father of Vulcan philosophy. Ozhika: logic.

The book was plain when I got it, but I wrote on it with a toothpick and whiteout to make it more meaningful. No longer is it a mere book, but it contains the words of Surak. The symbol underneath "Surak" is the Vulcan Script for "ozhika" or "logic".

Captain Spock also came with interchangeable hands, a communicator, and a phaser.

I wish I had interchangeable hands. I have plaster copies of my hands, but it's not the same.

I would love to get the rest of the WOK collection, but they are just so bloody expensive - I would need hundreds of dollars just to get those remaining, and I would rather spend that money on items that I can learn from, such as novels and DVDs.

Knowledge is power.
The more you know.