tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Oct 24 17:47:51 1998
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KLBC Tribbleball
ja' Qermaq:
>When we put two nouns together, unless we are expressing an appositive
>(which we are not) we mean (TKD p. 31) "N2 of the N1". <yIH ghanjaq>
>therefore translates as "mace of the tribble" or "tribble's mace".
>Possessive.
It's not quite that clear-cut. Examples abound of things that are more
than the simple possessive, such as {woj choHwI'} or {peQ chem}. The most
recent expansion of the role of noun-noun is on page 75 of KGT: {baS 'In}
"metal percussion instrument".
>I can't recall canon using N-N to represent association like
>"tribble-mace" as in "mace used to hit tribbles". Perhaps we must say <yIH
>qIpmeH ghanjaq le' DIlo'>.
How about {QoQ jan} "musical instrument" (KGT p74)? It represents rather
close to just that sort of association: "device used to make music".
><yIH ghanjaq le' DIlo'> translates as "We use the
>tribble's special maces." Perhaps the coinage of an unusual compound makes
>it actually clearer that this is not the tribble's club - although I doubt a
>tribble can wield one anyway.
Seeing a compound without first having its meaning declared for me is more
likely to imply to me that it's somehow both of the things at the same
time. {yIHghanjaq} sounds a little to me like it's a mace made from a
tribble, not
a club used to hit them.
-- ghunchu'wI'