tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 01 12:21:08 2001
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Re: Enterprise
From: <[email protected]>
> > >Hov leng Sov paqDaq ngoDvam lulaDlu'.
> > >These facts are in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, from Paramount.
> >
> > Why did you use {ngoDvam} and not {ngoDmeyvam} here? I'm just a
beginner
> > and I want to know if I'm missing something.
>
> In the Klingon Dictionary in the section about type 2 noun suffixes
(plurals)
> it says that plural suffixes are optional. You can use them to help
clearify
> ambiguity or possibly emphasize that they ARE plural (and there are some
other
> special effects that can be done with -mey).
>
> The verb prefix on laD is lu- (they / him), but when used with the
suffix -lu'
> changes to (he / them). So the prefix (and suffix) force the object to be
> plural. Adding -mey would not be wrong, just redundent.
Keep in mind, Sangqar, that redundancy in Klingon is a different thing than
in English. Klingon usually has more of them. There are numerous (might
one even say redundant?) examples in the various Klingon books (all of which
I do not have with me now, so I can't point them out).
Adding /-mey/ to /ngoD/ in this sentence might be considered redundant, but
that is absolutely no reason to avoid it. Redundancy is not taboo. But be
ready for some people (like me) who like to fiddle with the form of what we
say, while staying within the rules.
betleH lo' loDna'
Real men use bat'leths.
A real man uses a bat'leth.
(They mean both, and they mean the same thing.)
SuStel
Stardate 1751.4