tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 19 15:09:33 2006
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Re: Klingon WOTD: nalqaD (noun)
Voragh:
> >{nalqaD} was introduced on KCD where Okrand says, "{nal} is not used as a
> >word on its own, although it is also found in {be'nal} "wife" and {loDnal}
> >"husband". Technically, it is a bound morpheme, like English '(o)logy'."
> >(This may be a paraphrase; I've never actually heard KCD myself.)
QeS:
>Nor have I; I didn't know that Okrand had already spoken about this. Very
>interesting.
>
>The fact that {nal} appears as both the first and the second half of these
>compound nouns (unlike "-(o)logy") leads me to think that it wasn't always a
>bound morpheme, although now it definitely is
Postulating, of course, *{nal} as either a verb ("be married, be mated") or
a noun ("spouse, mate") or both.
> - like *{jon} "engineering", which I also suspect used not to be bound.
Okrand comments in TKD (p.78):
Sometimes one member of a set may be partially analyzed. For
example, {jonta'} "engine" begins with {jon}, which is also
found in {jonwI'} "engineer", and ends with {ta'}, which also
occurs in {mIqta'} "machinery". The other members of these
synonym sets, {QuQ} "engine" and {jo'} "machinery", cannot
be further analyzed.)"
(Now add {jonpIn} "engineering officer" from KGT to the list.)
Historically, there may have been a verb *{jon} "engineer, build/repair
machines" (?). Its homophonous noun *{jon} "machine" may have evolved or
differentiated into {jan} "device" and {jo'} "machinery". For comparison,
in a less technological age the English word "engine" used to refer to all
sorts of mechanical devices and machinery.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons