[91428] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] beings capable of speech
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rohan Fenwick - QeS 'utlh)
Sun Dec 25 20:09:46 2011
From: Rohan Fenwick - QeS 'utlh <qeslagh@hotmail.com>
To: <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:09:22 +1000
In-Reply-To: <CA+7zAmO8vU6rhkY51JoRLPt1ztdEvzzJ7goTSXzAYn=vap8AaA@mail.gmail.com>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@stodi.digitalkingdom.org
ghItlhpu' De'vID, jatlh:
> I don't know whether the apparent Human penchant for writing stories
> where the protagonists are animals extends to Klingons, but if they
> also tell stories involving talking animals, or if they were to
> translate such stories into Klingon, would the animals take the "beings
> capable of speech" suffixes?
We have two small pieces of evidence that come to mind; unfortunately
they contradict each other. The first is the continued use of {-Du'} with
words like {DeSqIv} even when the word applies to the handles of a pot;
the other is the variable use of {-pu'} or {-mey} to apply to speech-
mimicking birds like the {qaryoq} or {vIlInHoD}.
Personally, I think that the latter is more persuasive, given this from
the HolQeD article about birds:
"The plural suffix for birds is
usually {-mey}, the general plural
suffix,
as would be expected. There
is a difference of opinion, however,
about
which plural suffix to use for a
few birds capable of mimicking
speech,
such as the {vIlInHoD} and
the {qaryoq} (and the larger
{qaryoq'a'}),
with some Klingons
using {-mey} but others preferring
{-pu'}, the plural
suffix for beings
capable of using language. Maltz is a
member of the
former camp; he said
he was never able to engage a
{qaryoq} in a
conversation that made
any sense." (HolQeD v10n4p5)
The fact that Maltz's criterion for using {-mey} is the lack of sensible
conversation tells me that something that one *can* sensibly engage in
conversation with would be generally considered as {-pu'}-able. So talking
targs would be {targhpu'}.
taH:
> Would a talking {raS} refer to its {'uSDu'}?
Yes. I reckon the {nevDagh} example makes it incontrovertible - and even
if the table was non-talking I still think it has {'uSDu'}, not {'uSmey}.
QeS 'utlh
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