tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 28 22:09:46 1999
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Re: re: re: adverb suffixes ?? /KLBC
pIl'o':
>> Actually, {nItebchoH veng} means, "The cities fill you."
Daryl Quick:
> but couldn't that be taken as "the city's <populous> fill you?
> after all veng is singular,... <nI> refers to they(verb)you
> and you can refer to a city as its people or as its entirity
> (+buildings and such) so the they could be the populous...
> "the city's <populous> fill you"
> ... or do you (anyone) think I'm reaching??
charghwI':
: I think you are reaching. Collective nouns are grammatically
: singular in Klingon. If the plural verb prefix is correct,
: {veng} has to be plural. The plural suffix would be omitted
: quite commonly in Klingon. Why be redundant? We know city is
: plural because of {nI-}. Do we have to tell you it is plural
: AGAIN? Klingon is not nearly as redundant a language as English
I think Daryl is trying to read too much into just two words. Whether city
refers to buildings and such ("the steel and concrete city") or to its
populace ("the city was jubilant") is a question of rhetoric, not grammar.
Here we focus on mastering the grammar and vocabulary. Manipulating those
tools once learned then becomes a matter of style and, for a few, art --
which is the case when learning any new language.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons