tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Oct 20 08:52:13 1993

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Re: Punctuation revisited



On Oct 20, 11:12am, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
> Subject: Punctuation revisited

...
> Yes, though the situation apparently isn't so clear as it seems.  There are
> several places in which the noun-noun construction is said to be, and
> written as, one word.  Rokeg blood pie is "ro'qegh'Iwchab", starbase is
> "'ejyo'waw'", etc.  These might be exceptional, but for some reason I feel
> that the distinction between noun-noun constructions and compound words is
> pretty blurry.
...
> ~mark

     While I agree with everything else you said, I think there is a
difference between noun-noun and compound noun constructions. 3.2.1 describes
compound nouns with examples that point to one noun as a sort of adjective to
the other: earthworm (What kind of worm? An EARTH worm.), password (What kind
of word? A PASS word.), and jolpa' (What kind of pa'? A *jol* pa').

     This is very different from noun-noun construction (3.4), which
generally implies possession. It would be a dubious translation at best to
call jolpa' "transporter's room" or "the room of the transporter," though in
this specific case, the meaning would likely survive. While arguements could
be made to intentionally blur the distinction between these two
constructions, I generally see a fundamental difference that in most cases is
quite distinct between compound nouns and noun-noun construction.

     Respectfully submitted...

--   charghwI'



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