tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 26 11:56:12 1998
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Re: Inherently Plural Nouns
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Inherently Plural Nouns
- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 14:56:10 -0400 (EDT)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> from "Steven Boozer" at May 24, 98 03:49:03 pm
Hmmmm.
I wonder about this list. The problem I have with it is that
the {-mey} suffix to indicate "scattered all about" meaning
applies to inherently plural nouns WITH A SINGULAR COUNTERPART,
like {DoS/ray'}, and the {-mey} is applied to the SINGULAR
version. {DoSmey} means "targets scattered all about". Who
knows WHAT {ray'mey} means? I don't.
So, what is the singular counterpart to {begh}? I don't think
there is one. So, for the given rule the question was meant to
serve, I think that for once, our excellent voragh missed. It
doesn't happen very often. Take a picture, quick...
charghwI'
According to Steven Boozer:
>
> >What are the inherently plural nouns? Their singular counterparts that, along
> >with the suffix -mey, give the "scattered about" connotation? I know of
> >veng/cha, chuyDaH/vIj, and DoS/ray'. Are there more?
> >
> >tu'wI'
>
> You ask some good questions, tu'wI'. Let's see, I can think of:
>
> begh deflectors
> chuyDaH thrusters (sg. vIj)
> cha torpedoes (sg. peng)
> ghISDen scales
> HoSDo' energy beings (pl. only?)
> jo resources (sg. Sup)
> lolSeHcha attitude control thrusters
> negh soldiers (sg. mang; cf. KGT 49f for discussion)
> no' ancestors (sg. qempa')
> ngop plates (sg. jengva')
> paSlogh socks
> pu'DaH phaser banks
> QaS troops (not including officers)
> Quv coordinates
> ray' targets (sg. DoS)
> wey ship's crew complement (crew + officers; cf. KGT 50)
> 'aH paraphernalia
>
> Can anyone add to this list?
>
> Voragh
>
>