tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 02 17:47:26 1998

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Re: SoSwI' be'nI'

>> >}MO says in the discussion: "Note that the word for 'spirit,' {qa'}, takes
>> >}the plural sluffix {-pu'}, which is used for beings capable of using
>> >}language. Spirits do speak."
>> >
>> >But presumably you could use {-mey} for spirits that didn't.
>> 
>> Why?  Some words are inherently treated one way or the other.  For example,
>> somewhere in KGT (I've really got to type it up!) there's a discussion of
>> table legs, which are called {'uSDu'}, even though they are not body parts.
>> {qa'pu'} might ALWAYS be {qa'pu'}, even if they don't speak.  Or maybe there
>> are no {qa'pu'} which do not speak.
>
>While I was walking dead, my spirit did not speak. That is
>actually the best other way to describe the sense of walking
>dead. The body spoke. The spirit did not.
>
>Does such a temporary state cause one to change a suffix? I'm
>not sure. For this time in question, my spirit was unable to
>find its voice. It was not a choice. It was a condition.

When MO talks about things being able to speak or having language (plural
suffix and possessive suffix), we shouldn't take this so literally.  I
believe he is refering to things which have the intelligence to understand
the concept of language and the ability to communicate.
Humans do not only speak, but understand the concept of what they are doing.
Humans get suffixes like -pu' -wI' -lI'
A human who had their tongue cut out can't talk, but still gets the -pu'
-wI' suffixes.
A computer can talk, but does not get -pu' -wI'.  It doesn't understand
language.  It was simply programmed to make sounds.
A scientist working with a chimpanzee which has learned to communicate might
use the suffixes -pu' -wI' when refering to the chimp.  Of course his
friends who don't believe the chimp is intelligent enough will laugh at him
and still call the chimp an [it] and use suffixes like -lIj.  Situations
like this would be debatable.
Most people (especially religous) believe a spirit is intelligent and
understands communication, whether it is physically capable of speaking or not.

DloraH
www2.rpa.net/~cheesbro
(last updated: 22 Jan 98)

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