tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 15 10:09:12 1999
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RE: KLBC
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC
- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 11:02:49 -0700
lab K'ryntes:
> Which suffix would I use on beq (crew)? -wI' or -wIj?
Good question. <beq> is defined as "crew, crewman", so it's a little hazy.
Does it have two seperate but related meanings, or is it really just one
meaning that doesn't fit neatly into our English based minds? My take is
that the most basic meaning of <beq> is a single crewman, but it gets used
so often as an unmarked plural that it is also understood to mean a full
crew.
When it's used to mean "crewman", it's definitely <-wI'>. When it means
"crew", the issue is a little murkier, but I would tend to use <-wI'> there
as well. This is almost a non-issue for the plural suffixes - I would almost
always interpret a plural of <beq> to mean several individual crewmembers.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian