tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jan 11 20:20:36 1998
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Re: Phantom words in KGT
On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 18:40:26 -0800 (PST) Alan Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:
> [regarding {mebpa'mey}]
>
> mujang Voragh:
> >: I wonder about this word. It's got a {-mey} on it, but it's defined as
> >: a singular "hotel". Is it an inherently plural noun that is grammatically
> >: treated as singular?
> >
> >Why would you asume that? The -mey marks it as a plural noun. It just looks
> >like Klingons use a plural word ("guest rooms"), while Anglophiles use a
> >singular ("hotel"). Pity Okrand didn't use it in context, though. You simply
> >adjust your translation to follow the grammar of your own language.
>
> I'm not assuming anything, I'm just wondering. There's also the similar
> example in TKD's addendum of {nuHmey} "arsenal" to consider. I don't have
> any problem with them, except for the singular translations in the lexicon
> itself.
>
> -- ghunchu'wI'
Again, I think these are listings simply so that when you look
up "arsenal" or "hotel" in the English->Klingon side of the word
list, there will be a word there for you to find. I don't
believe there is any grammatical singularity in these plural
words.
charghwI'