[86343] in tlhIngan-Hol
RE: {vIl} (was Re: News from Maltz)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Tue Jul 28 14:17:02 2009
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "'tlhingan-hol@kli.org'" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:15:14 -0500
In-Reply-To: <20090728173837.147910@gmx.net>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
ghunchu'wI':
>> 1) The noun {vIlle'} means something close to "minion".
>>
>> Here is a direct quote from Marc Okrand: "A {vIlle'}, on the other
>> hand, is definitely someone you want to have around -- a follower,
>> disciple, fan, admirer, minion."
>>
>> 2) The noun {vIl} is hard to define. Maltz had given a
>> description of something which was immediately recognized as a
>> speed bump by everyone present, but it was apparently intended
>> not as an actual definition but as an example of something
>> which is "just there". There is obviously an etymological
>> relationship with and {vIlle'}, which is currently the best
>> clue we have to its true meaning.
Quvar:
>Okay, I think this confirms the literal meaning of {vIl le'}, a "special
>vIl", i.e. a special person that's always around you opposed to someone
>unimportant.
IOW a "somebody" vs. a "nobody", perhaps. E.g. Q: "Who's he?" A:"Don't mind him; he's nobody." (Or as the old song puts it: "You're nobody 'til somebody loves you. You're nobody 'til somebody cares.")
>So can I understand that {vIl} is a person? There are many things around
>me... To make a more grammatical question: what's the plural of {vIl}?
As I understand it {vIl} can be either a thing or a person, so the plural is either {vIlmey} or {vIlpu'} depending on context. (BTW we've seen this ambiguity before with the nouns {pagh} "nothing; no one" and {vay'} "something, anything; someone, anyone".)
If ghunchu'wI's version of Okrand's explanation is anything to go on, {vIl} seems to refer to people most often, though Okrand's example of a speed bump shows {vIl} can also refer to things.
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons
