tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 15 21:43:45 1998
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Re: Problem Words
ja' charghwI':
>Hong boq chuyDaH: loS
>Impulse Fusion Thrusters - 4
>
>We already have {boq} and its definition does not include
>"fusion".
No? "Coalition" sounds very much like things coming together. :-)
> So, does this word also mean "fusion", or is it just
>the middle word one uses when one refers to Impulse Fusion
>Thrusters? I mean, why did we pick the word "fusion" in English?
>It was arbitrary.
Arbitrary? Not in the least! Nuclear fusion refers to atomic
nuclei coming together and sticking. The word was chosen because
"fusion" means merging separate things into a combined whole.
>But would a Klingon always use the word {boq}
>where we'd use the word "fusion"?
Based on the meaning of the words, I'd expect that {boq} indeed
is used when referring to nuclear fusion. I'd also expect that
it's used for other kinds of fusion. (I would *not* expect it to
refer to the process of melting from applied heat, which is also
called "fusion" on occasion.)
>Also, is the word {chuyDaH} an implied plural? If so, what
>happens when we count four of them? Could it then take a plural
>suffix? Should it then be treated as grammatically plural?
>According to TKD, pages 23-24, the answer is "no". It is
>explicitly stated that {chuyDaH} is treated as singular even
>though it refers to multiple {vIj}. So, what happens when you
>say {loS chuyDaH}? loS chuyDaH wItoghchugh... It looks pretty
>weird where I'm sitting. I want to see {loS X DItoghchugh...}. I
>guess I need to adjust my reflexes to suit the rules.
I don't see a problem here at all. A {chuyDaH} is a collection of
thrusters. Four of them would be...four collections of thrusters.
Putting a plural suffix on {chuyDaH} might not *have* to carry a
"scattered" implication; it just means that the thrusters being
counted don't all act in concert the way a "thruster bank" does.
>muDDaq 'eDSeHcha lulaQlu'bogh: jav
>Atmosperic Take-Off/Landing Thrusters - 6
>
>Note that this is NOT a plural form (as I noted earlier) because
>of the {lu-}. If it were like {chuyDaH}, there would be no {lu-}.
I'm tempted to call these "altitude-control thrusters". :)
>37. telDaq wovmoHwI'mey
> Wing Lights
>
>The Cat In The Hat returns. Note the locative with no verb,
>unless you think you can nominalize a whole CLAUSE with {wI'}. I
>don't think so. That, or he spaced out and forgot the {lujomlu'}
>which he used earlier for the disruptor cannons.
This one disturbs me. I can rationalize it away by pretending it
means "wing-location lighteners", but I really need Okrand to hit
me with an annoy stick and explicitly say a locative like this is
okay before I'll accept it.
>And I wonder what a researcher says when she discovers something
>really interesting...
I'll bet she gets all fired up about it.
-- ghunchu'wI'