tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 28 12:08:06 2002
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Re: Lexicographical issue...
> Hallo, my name is Cees ... and I'm new to this list.
Welcome to the list. I am DloraH, currently serving as the list's Beginners'
Grammarian.
> and the one he mentions is written WITHOUT a space: "jolpa'."
> BUT, in the Dictionary part of the KGT are some compound nouns
> which are written WITH a space: "Dargh HIvje' ": teapot. This, I do
> not understand. The question I address to the list is the following:
>
> What are the rules for the construction and writing of compound
> nouns, and what are the exceptions if there are any?
What are the rules and exceptions for compound nouns in english?
The two you picked:
jolpa' = transport room -- one word in klingon, but the english is two words.
Dargh HIvje' = teacup (not "teapot") -- two words in klingon, but only one word
in english.
How do we know these are not "transportroom" and "tea cup"?
This is just how languages evolve over time.
As for CREATING words... we can create multi-word noun-noun constructions as
shown in TKD section 3.4, but we can not create single-word compounds. Only
Okrand can.
DloraH, BG