tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 18 20:55:02 1997

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Re: Hoch, HochHom, bID, 'op



On Sat, 16 Aug 1997 01:13:19 -0700 (PDT)  [email protected] wrote:

> I've heard somewhere
> {cha yIghuS}

This is one of the original lines from the first Star Trek 
movie. The actor who plays Scotty (I can't spell James Dohan) 
actually made up the sounds for the actor who played the unnamed 
Klingon captain (Mark Leanard). Okrand came along later and 
turned this into words in TKD. Note that the word is {cha}, not 
{cha'}.

> "be ready to fire IT torpedoes" although {cha} is torpedoeSS
> 
> Is that the same case as 
> 
> > Which is correct?
> > cha' wISop
> > cha' DISop

We are not sure. Most likely, these are not the same. {cha} is 
inherantly plural, sort of like the word "rain" or "grass" is 
for English. Rain is falling (not rain are falling) and grass is 
green (not grass are green). Meanwhile, if we use numbers as 
nouns, we say, "Two are coming down the road." We don't say, 
"Two is coming down the road."

It is not necessarily true that Klingon will follow these 
examples, since English is inconsistent. Sheep are grazing. It 
is not the case that sheep is grazing. Cattle are restless, not 
cattle is restless.

Anyway, Okrand simply did not tell us or give us any useful 
examples yet to prove that numbers used as nouns are treated one 
way or the other. We just don't know for sure. Until we find 
out, I will continue to grammatically treat numbers as plural 
instead of singular. It just makes sense to me. If Okrand 
declares otherwise, I'll change with no complaint.
 
> ______________
> muHwI'
> Stardate 97625.1

charghwI'





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