tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 06 16:31:09 1995
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Re: Suppletion
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Suppletion
- Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 19:30:50 -0500
charghwI' writes:
>My opinion is that Klingon speakers would consider {cha} and
>{peng} to be irregular forms of the same word. Evidence is that
>(pengmey} also exists, but has a different meaning than it
>would have were the "normal" plural of {peng} not {cha}. If
>{cha} were simply another word for {pengmey}, then {pengmey}
>would not carry the additional meaning of "scattered all about".
I disagree. I see a parallel between Klingon {peng}/{cha} and English
"torpedo"/"salvo". A torpedo is a single object. A "salvo" or "volley"
or "barrage" is also a single object, and evokes much the same image in
my mind as {cha}. If one has a target, one can fire a torpedo at it, or
one can fire a volley (of torpedoes) at it. Simply firing torpedoes
might be seen as a less coherent action than firing a coordinated volley,
similar to the "scattered all about" connotation of {pengmey}.
The {vIj}/{chuyDaH} distinction can be viewed as the difference between a
single rocket engine and the Orbital Maneuvering System of the Space
Shuttle. A "thruster" can be throttled and perhaps pointed, but an "OMS"
is an integrated whole which is used to control the Shuttle's orbit. It
would be much more difficult to rendezvous with another spacecraft if all
you had for maneuvering was {vIjmey} -- a bunch of rockets.
I don't have a handy {DoS}/{ray'} analogue, but I can easily imagine a
tactical situation where one has a specific set of targets in mind for a
certain attack. "In order to hinder our opponent's communication, we
will destroy this (collection-of-relay-stations)."
Based mainly on my "torpedo"/"salvo" interpretation, I believe that a
native Klingon would consider {peng} and {cha} to be distinct concepts.
(For a similar argument in the other direction, does a German
think "hand-shoes" when considering gloves, or are gloves and
shoes conceptually unrelated?)
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj