tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 22 06:02:50 2004

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Re: mIvDaq yIH

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

From: <[email protected]>

> In a message dated 2004-06-21 7:10:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> > A rule may be broken without disproving the rule in general.
> >
> > SuStel
> >
> But a reason for the exception always has to be found.

Only if you have the research resources available.

I can tell you why the English names for the days of the week are what they
are, because I have access to resources that can explain this.  A Klingon
studying English on Kronos with resources equivalent to what we have here
about Klingon would have no way of explaining where these names come from.
He might guess Sunday and Monday, but he'd probably think Wednesday was
named after marriage.  He has no knowledge of Mona, Tiw, Woden, Thor,
Frigga, or Saturn, nor any way to be sure that the days were named after
them.  He might guess they're unmentioned moons of Earth.

Our problem is that we have no Klingons to ask.  Without that kind of
resource, we have no reason to expect that we will be able to find reasons
for any exceptions.  Indeed, we have no reason to be able to prove that what
we think is an exception really is an exception.

So no, we don't have to be able to find a reason for an exception.  We can't
even be sure when something *is* an exception, unless Okrand tells us it is.

SuStel
Stardate 4475.1

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