tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Nov 09 08:14:58 2006
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Re: plurals
Quvar wrote:
>And for slaves used like objects, {-wIj} would be appropriate. I don't
>know if it's a canon explanation, but if someone refers to a person saying
>{SoSlIj} or {HoDwIj} it's an insult for that person, treating it as an object.
"It is grammatically correct to use the regular possessive suffixes with
nouns referring to beings capable of speech (as in {puqlIj} 'your child'),
but such constructions are considered derogatory; {joHwIj} for 'my lord'
borders on taboo". (TKD 25)
"Addressing 'my Lord' or 'my Lady' as {joHwIj} rather than {joHwI'} is
insulting indeed, since it implies that 'my Lord' or 'my Lady' is a lower
order of being. Similarly, a group of heads of households would probably
not appreciate being referred to as {joHDu'}, since that would be the
appropriate way to say Lords or Ladies only if they were body parts. The
only thing worse would be combining mispronunciation with grammatical
blundering, such as by saying {joQDu'wIj} ('my ribs') [...] when
{joHpu'wI'} ('my Lords, my Ladies') is intended. Mistakes of this kind are
simply not tolerated and there are no recorded instances of anyone living
long enough to repeat the offense." (KGT 190)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons