RE: KLBC: {HoSDo'} inherently plural?

["Andeen, Eric" <Eric.Andeen@Sequencia.com>]

jatlh charghwI':

> I don't know about you, but I've found energy beings often quite 
> difficult to count. They tend to cluster, you know. The lines 
> are blurred. I never know how many of them I'm talking to and 
> they never tell. So far as I know, I've never seen just one of 
> them. They are not discrete.

> Yep. Don't ever tell an energy being any of your secrets.

jatlh Dawut:

> Greetings.
> 
> On TKD pages 89 and 131, we see:
>    HoSDo' (n) energy beings
> 
> Is {HoSDo'} inherently plural?
> 
> If {HoSDo'} takes pluralizers, are the suffixes indicating 
> linguistic capability used?
> 
> *HoSDo'pu' law' vIleghpu' (?)
> I have seen many energy beings.
> 
> *HoSDo' Soch vIleghpu' (?)
> I have seen seven energy beings.

Actually, that's "I have seen energy beings number seven". Count numbers go
before the noun.

After charghwI''s reply, I laughed (groaned ?!?) so hard that I forgot to
reply. <HoSDo'> is, for some reason, one of the favorite words of many
members of the KLI, Dr. Schoen in particular. It is a close runner up to
<ghobe'! SuD> as the most common punchline of qep'a' jokes.

I have to say yes, it is inherently plural, and from what we know about
HoSDo' they seem to be capable of speech. I don't think I would ever use
<-pu'> with <HoSDo'> since it's inherently plural, but when it comes to the
choice of <-wIj> or <-wI'>, I would go with <-wI'>.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian