tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Oct 24 11:14:57 2007
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: qechmey
Jon:
> > On another issue, how do you use {chang'eng}? Would "pair of shoes" be
> > rendered "shoes' pair" and so {chang'eng waqmey}?
ghunchu'wI':
>The phrase "shoes' pair" would be {waqmey chang'eng} in Klingon.
>
>I'd interpret {chang'eng waqmey} as referring to "pair shoes" as
>opposed to some other kind of shoes...which would make me wonder what
>other kind of shoes there would be.
The noun {chang'eng} may work like the problematic noun {bID} "half", used
only once in canon:
cha' choQmey naQ tu'lu' 'ej tep choQ bIngDaq lo' law' bID choQ tu'lu'
2 Full Decks and a Half Utility Deck under the Cargo Deck (KBoP)
The problem is that both of these words are nouns, not numbers - "numeric
nouns" perhaps? (Can anyone think of others?) {bID choQ} suggests to me
that ?{chang'eng waq(mey)} just might be possible. As ghunchu'wI' has
said, though, what exactly it would mean is unclear.
And how you would use either of these "numeric nouns" with a number? Can
you say ?{wa'maH bID choQmey} or ?{wa'maH chang'eng waqmey}, or do omit the
second noun and rely on context: ?{wa'maH bIDmey}, ?{wa'maH chang'engmey}?
Voragh:
>>I've wondered about that myself, but canon isn't very helpful. {chang'eng}
>>"pair" debuted in the Klingon Bird of Prey Poster labelled parts list:
>>
>> nISwI': cha' chang'engmey (telDaq lujomlu', nItebHa' lubaHlu')
>> Disruptor - 2 Pairs (Wing Mounted, Fire Linked) (KBoP)
>>
>>Our only other example was in the humorous "making of" feature at the end
>>of the ST5 Special Edition DVD:
>>
>> tlhIngan chang'engvetlh
>> that Klingon couple (ST5 DVD)
ghunchu'wI':
>Since the correct usage isn't immediately obvious, my tactic would be
>to dance around the problem. If I wanted to be clearly understood
>while talking about a pair of shoes, I'd say something first to
>establish that I was talking about shoes, and then refer to them
>simply as a {chang'eng}.
If {cha' waq(mey)wIj} "my two shoes" for "my pair of shoes" won't work, the
only way I know works is to make it a kind of list as in the KBoP example:
jav waqmey: wej chang'eng(mey)
six shoes: three pair(s)
or use it in apposition or in a parenthetical comment to {waqmey}:
puqloDwI' pa' ghIHDaq wa'maH waqmey (vagh chang'eng[mey]) vIlegh.
I see ten shoes (i.e. five pair[s]) in my son's messy room.
though why you would really feel compelled to specify the number of pairs
is beyond me.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons