tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Oct 17 21:28:55 1995
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Re: More on HolQeD 4.3
Tue, 17 Oct 1995, ghItlh charghwI':
> According to R.B Franklin:
> ..
> > >From the English translation, my best guess is that is means "some" and
> > it might be a noun.
>
> I considered that, but the overall construction suggested the
> meaning of "some" without the word {'op} being there at all.
> Meanwhile, if it DOES mean "some", then it's location is a
> counterexample of the best use of {Hoch} as a noun which should
> follow the noun it describes. If it is a noun meaning "some",
> then it should logically FOLLOW instead of preceed the noun it
> modifies. In this case, it preceeds.
It's placement before the noun gave me a lot of trouble too.
I don't think we will be able to figure out what {'op} really means
without asking Okrand.
> But an ordinal numer is not a noun. It is chuvmey. If anything,
> it behaves like an adjectival. That's why I saw its placement
> as odd unless it is newly being allowed to function as an
> adverbial. I can't see any time when {wa'DIch} can function as
> a noun, so speaking of nouns function adverbially doesn't seem
> to apply here. This is the difference between saying, "When the
> federation saw the first Klingon ships," (in which case the
> word order is wrong) vs. "When the federation first saw Klingon
> ships..." (in which case {wa'DIch} is being used adverbially,
> which is not described in TKD unless I missed it.)
Technically, it is not an ordinal number, it doesn't have {-DIch} on it.
It's a number used for numbering. When a number follows a noun, it
numbers it, e.g. {DuS wa'} (torpedo tube No. 1), . In this case we have
{tera' valth DIS poH cha'maH los} (Terran hundred year period No. 24).
To me, this looks like any other unit of time, which you would use at the
begining of the sentence, like {DaHjaj}, {wa'leS}, {wa'Hu'}, {cha'maH
ben}, {wa'maH wej valth rep}, etc.
> Thank you for you thoughtful response. This is exactly what I
> was asking for. Together, we can make more sense of these
> details.
maj. pabvam chu' wImISHa'choHmoHlaH 'e' vIHar.
> charghwI'
yoDtargh