Re: yaywIj yIngaq!

["David Trimboli" <SuStel@hotmail.com>]

From: <willm@cstone.net>

> > First is the use of the noun suffix {-Hom} on {Hoch} in Skybox card S13:
> > {tera' vatlh DIS poH cha'maH wej HochHom lo'lu'taH.}  {Hoch} arguably
acts
> > like a number in some cases, though probably not this one, so this
actually
> > doesn't provide any real support for noun suffixes on numbers.
>
> {Hoch} is a noun in TKD. {HochHom} is a noun in KGT. Neither are numbers.

It's not as straightfoward as that.  Numbers sometimes act like nouns, and
some nouns have been known to act like numbers.  /Hoch/, /HochHom/, /'op/,
/bID/, and maybe a few more seem to modify other nouns in exactly the same
way that numbers do.  Then there's the word /pagh/ which is both a noun and
a number (and even a conjunction!).

In the above example, /HochHom/ is not acting like a number; instead of
counting the noun (phrase), it's telling us how much of a particular noun
(phrase) there is.  This sentence is the basis of my belief that /Hoch chab/
means "each pie," /chab Hoch/ means "all of the pie," and /chab HochHom/
means "almost all of the pie."  Likewise, I believe that /'op chab/ means
"some of the pies," and /chab 'op/ means "some of the pie" (and I'll just
betcha that /'opHom chab/ would be taken as "a few of the pies," and /chab
'opHom/ as "a little bit of the pie").

> > So if I really needed to talk about "a little less than seven minutes",
I'd
> > feel most comfortable with something like {Soch tupHom}, but I'd
probably
> > only use it without reservation if I intended to imply a prearranged
period
> > of time being cut short.  I'd understand if someone said {SochHom}, but
I
> > would only say it myself for rhetorical effect.
>
> That's an interesting idea, though I doubt I'd be comfortable using either
of
> these devices until I got something from Okrand about it. For that matter,
if
> you want to talk about almost seven minutes, you'd likely stretch things
less
> to say {HochHom Soch tup}. That doesn't give you a device for saying
"around
> seven minutes", or "a little more than seven minutes", but then that would
> violate the whole "inaccurate, but not approximate" advice.

I find these uses of /-Hom/ to be very hindsightish, though not impossible.
How about /Soch tup, lup puS je/?

SuStel
Stardate 2165.2