[93899] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Pronoun agreement in to-be sentences
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robyn Stewart)
Tue Jun 26 15:59:35 2012
In-Reply-To: <4FEA06F2.8030701@trimboli.name>
From: Robyn Stewart <robyn@flyingstart.ca>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:59:10 -0600
To: David Trimboli <david@trimboli.name>
Cc: "tlhingan-hol@stodi.digitalkingdom.org"
<tlhingan-hol@stodi.digitalkingdom.org>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@stodi.digitalkingdom.org
On 2012-06-26, at 13:01, David Trimboli <david@trimboli.name> wrote:
>> Why doesn't the disagreement "plural are
>> singular" bother me in English?
>
> Because you're silently adding a plural noun after the adjective "plural"? "Plural nouns"?
I actually meant it as a template, but didn't stop to realize that it was a valid sentwnce of its own. I meant:
[plural concept] are [singular thing]
Skittles are my favourite thing ever.
Stories are a good way to shut kids up.
Cellphones are an awesome invention.
Maybe there are people who would reject all those sentences and demand "The cellphone is an awesome invention."
> It also depends on your flavor of English. British English usually uses a plural "to be" when the copula references a singular group noun: "the group are happy." American English usually uses a singular "to be": "the group is happy." There are exceptions to both. I don't know how your Canadian English handles it.
We usually use the American way.
> The real question is, does the pronoun need to agree with the predicate or the subject of the sentence?
Exactly. ... or both.
>> If I have him change it to:
>>
>> nuHwIj nIvqu' bIH mu'mey'e'
>>
>> ... then I've changed it to "Words are my best weapons." If it were my
>> own sentence I'd do that, or even make it {mu'mey bIH nuHwIj nIvqu''e'},
>> but as it's someone else's sentence I don't want to say "it doesn't feel
>> right" or "it has to agree with both" unless there is something backing
>> me up. Do we have any canon copula sentences with the two parts
>> deserving different pronouns?
>
> I'm not aware of any.
I don't think it's injecting my personal prejudice to tell him to switch out 'oH to bIH.
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