tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 02 22:48:23 1996
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Re: Workhorse
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Workhorse
- Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 01:48:03 -0500
Joel writes:
> ...Picking apart words
> is one thing, but putting syllables together in a way that isn't
> explained anywhere is almost as bad as inventing syllables from
> whole cloth.
>
>Hmmm? This is regarding "'ervum"? I actually used my references at
>hand (as noted, my mods to d'Armond's program - 99.9% his work, .1%
>mine) and accepted it. I was surprised to find the term though, and
>looked up its constituent parts 'er + vum and assumed it was a
>canonical term. Big deal. 'oy DaSIQjaj.
SoHvaD jItlhIjnIS 'e' vItu'. mu'qoqvammo' SoH qapIchlaHbe'.
pIch ghajlaw' Holtej. reH latlh qab qul tuj law' Hoch tuj puS.
I find that I must apologize. This pseudo-word isn't Joel's fault;
it seems d'Armond is to blame. (Boy, is *my* face red.) And to
further embarass myself, I think *I* am the only one to have used
{*'ervum} on the list previously (although I *did* mark it as an
"unreal" word on that occasion).
>As to being "explained anywhere" I included a translation to try to
>make my usage clear. Apparently it was not. qatlhIj.
Your usage was perfectly clear, but I was complaining about the
unexplained *procedure* by which noun-verb compounds come about.
> Qo'. A compound of a noun and a verb is certainly "in the league of"
> a compound of two verbs...
> ...we don't have any known way to create new ones.
>
>Sure we do. We define them and use them - coinage is part of living
>languages, ossification and dogmatism is part of dead ones.
tlhIngan Hol is an unusual language. I believe it's the official
policy of the KLI (who sponsors this mailing list) that only Marc
Okrand has the authority to define new words. We indulge in the
fantasy that there is a real population of native speakers of the
language, and we get our information about the real language from
Okrand. It is as yet merely a "simulation" of a living language.
> wIvlIj
>'oH - It is your choice. nuch jIH'a'? vInIDbe'. I try not to be a
>coward.
I see coining new words and using unattested constructions less like
bravery and more like dynamite. You might get rid of a rock in your
path, but the collateral damage is severe. I recognize the validity
of the phrase {Dubotchugh yIpummoH}, but I still believe the rules of
the language as presented by Okrand should be respected. If there's
something you want to say that is hard to translate with the tools we
have...either get creative within the limits of the language, or say
something else.
-- ghunchu'wI'
PS: We see here yet another example of why it's important to keep
track of where the words you're using come from. If you don't know
what the source is, you can't be sure there *is* a valid source!