tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Aug 21 11:19:16 1999
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RE: KLBC: Re: *Francesco Felici*vaD
ja' "Angela Anuszewski" <[email protected]>:
>If De' is plural (which it would be in English), then how would we say it as
>singular in tlhIngan Hol? I am willing to accept De' meaning "datum" and
>De'pu' meaning "data".
Apparently, TKD does not subscribe to the pedantic insistence that the word
"data" is plural. {De'} by itself is translated "data, information". See
page 127:
data (n) ... De'
The plural suffix {-pu'} is only used on beings capable of language, so I'd
have to interpret {De'pu'} as talking about multiple copies of Star Trek's
android named Data. :-)
>That doesn't solve what you do about its meaning as
>"information". But it is something to think about.
The English word "information" is neither singular nor plural. It's a
"mass" noun, which generally doesn't get counted. Compare it to "water"
and "furniture" and "electricity". One never hears phrases like "three
furnitures" or "five electricities".
We haven't seen explicitly plural uses of Klingon words like this in any
of Okrand's examples, though we do have a few examples of {law'} following
such a noun.
Skybox Card SP3 {tlhIngan wIy} "Klingon Tactical Display":
{...Hos law'qu' luch law'qu' je lo' Duj nuH pat Hub pat je... }
"...A huge amount of the ship's power and technology is devoted to
its weapons grid and defensive systems..."
Skybox Card S32 {'oy'naQ} "Painstik":
{...chIch vay' 'oy'moHmeH 'oy'naQ 'ul law' tlhuD 'oH.}
"...Painstiks...emit a highly-charged shock for the express purpose
of inflicting pain."
Skybox Card S33 {So'wI'} "Cloaking Device"
{...HoS law'qu' natlhmo' So'wI' QaptaHvIS So'wI' QaplaHbe' nuHmey...}
"...Due to the tremendous energy drain of a cloaking device, weapons
cannot be discharged while the cloak is in operation."
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh