tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Sep 10 11:01:49 1994

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Re: tu'lu' vs. lutu'lu'



According to Mark E. Shoulson:
> 
> We use "tu'lu'" pretty often, at least I do.  And I rarely think about it.
> It occurred to me that "-lu'" requires a "lu-" prefix for plural objects,
> according to 4.2.5, and the PK phrase "to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh" for "stuff
> toebadge legs."  This would imply that I have to re-read all my text
> carefully and watch for things like "tlhInganpu' tu'lu'" and change them to
> "lutu'lu'".
> 
> Then I remembered a canon phrase from the phrasebook: naDev tlhInganpu'
> tu'lu'.  Oh my.  Is this a typo in the phrasebook?  A thinko on Okrand's
> part?  Grammaticalization of "tu'lu'"?  Help.
> 
> ~mark, confused Grammarian.

I tend to see the phrase book as one of the earliest (and least
practiced) writings Okrand has ever made, and so it has some
mistakes in it. I would tend to think of this as such a
mistake. I would tend to think of {to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh} as
newer canon that supercedes the elder work.

Meanwhile, I suspect that {tu'lu'} with a plural object is a
forgivable (and probably common) grammatical error. Meanwhile,
it IS an error. Maybe if you considered it to be clipped...

charghwI'



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