tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 14 21:36:16 1998
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Re: Macro and micro
DloraH wrote:
|>Just what is it about those seductive suffixes -Hom and -'a' that make
|>people want to abandon mach and tIn?
|
|-'a' and -Hom don't necessarily mean the same as big and small; but many
|times are translated as such.
|De'wI' = computer
|De'wI'Hom could possibly mean something more simple, like a calculator.
|loD = man
|loDHom = boy
|pIn and pIn'a'. But a pIn'a' is not necessarily bigger.
|veng [city] and vengHom [village]
Of course. This is the way these suffixes should be used. I was just
wondering at a phenomenon I've noticed with beginners and, sometimes,
not-so-beginners. Often I've seen people write something like {*veng'a'Daq
jIyIn} when they're just trying to say "I live in a big city" (keeping in
mind that most beginners don't know about {Dab} yet). They're not really
thinking of a metropolis or megalopolis like, say, New York or Cairo or
Mexico City. Once {-Hom} and {-'a'} are learned, for some reason
{mach(qu')} and {tIn(qu')} tend to be overlooked even when appropriate.
But I'm sure the BG's have something to say.
Voragh