[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: 'aSya'

[SuStel]

> On 13 Jul 2017 7:24 pm, "nIqolay Q" <niqolay0 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:niqolay0 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>
>     On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 11:25 AM, mayqel qunenoS
>     <mihkoun at gmail.com <mailto:mihkoun at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         > naHQun also suggested *{bIQpuH'a'} - as well as *{bIQpuH}
>         > "island"
>
>         Shouldn't this preferably be {bIQ puH} instead of {bIQpuH} ?
>
>
>     MO tends to lean towards using noun-noun phrases rather than
>     compound nouns but IIRC he's said that it's not a big deal to
>     prefer one way over the other (or something to that effect, at least).
>
On 7/13/2017 12:33 PM, mayqel qunenoS wrote:
> So we can glue two nouns together ?

No. Your question is exactly why we have to be careful when telling 
people that Okrand said it wasn't a big deal.

When SPEAKING, there's no difference between *bIQ puH* and *bIQpuH.* 
That doesn't make the latter a genuine, single word.

Spaces are a form of punctuation. 
IcouldwriteeverythinginonelongstringoflettersanditwouldbeperfectlyvalidEnglish, 
but we punctuate our words with spaces to make them readable. I'm pretty 
sure you agree that 
"IcouldwriteeverythinginonelongstringoflettersanditwouldbeperfectlyvalidEnglish" 
is not a word; it's a bunch of words without spaces between them.

What we do with our Latin-letter-based transcription system for Klingon 
is show the phonemes of Klingon, not the writing system. Any punctuation 
we use is up to us and for our benefit. The transcription system 
represents what Klingon SOUNDS like, not how its grammar works.

When Okrand says it's no big deal whether you transcribe things like 
*wa'Hu'* instead of *wa' Hu',* he's saying that it SOUNDS the same 
anyway, so no big deal, don't read too much into it. He's NOT saying 
that you can glue two nouns together to coin a new word.

Let's take the phrase *baS 'In* /metal drum./ Let's suppose you've 
learned it as a single word, *baS'In.* Now tell me the word for a drum 
that you THINK is made of metal.

If you said *baS'InHey,* that means /thing you think is a metal drum,/ 
not something you know is a drum but which you only think is made of metal.

If you said *baSHey'In,* okay, that means what I asked, but now you can 
put suffixes in the middle of nouns? Or are you really dealing with two 
words after all, and just taking away the space punctuation? Exactly 
what have you accomplished by "gluing" those nouns together, then taking 
them apart again long enough to shove a suffix in there? How is it any 
different than just saying *baSHey 'In?* And if it's no different, why 
not do us a favor and punctuate your sentences helpfully?

Related question: If you're squishing words together (and not using 
slang), is a *DeSHom* an arm-bone or a minor arm?

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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