tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 09 12:14:03 1999
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RE: Scattered speakers
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Scattered speakers
- Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 13:07:46 -0700
jatlh charghwI':
>
> My most recent random synapse:
>
> We know that {puqmey} means, "children scattered all about"
> because the plural would normally be {puqpu'}.
>
> We know that {pengmey} means "torpedoes scattered all about"
> because the plural would normally be {cha}.
>
> But since the plural of {mang} is normally {negh}, does that
> mean that {mangpu'} would mean "soldiers scattered all about"?
>
> And if it does, what would {mangmey} mean?
>
> And if it doesn't, why doesn't it? Why use {negh}?
>
> I hope your synapses enjoy this as much as mine did.
KGT actually gives us a partial answer for this (p50):
The word <mangpu'> ... is seldom used, but it is not ungrammatical. It
carries with it the notion that there are individuals (more than one <mang>)
making up the group; negh focuses on the group as a unit.