[tlhIngan Hol] using {ngan} as a suffix {ngan} as the suffix {-ngan}

[SuStel]

On 1/26/2022 8:36 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> Thank you fergusq and lieven for replying.
>
> fergusq:
>> 'elaDya'ngan is same as 'elaDya' ngan, a noun-noun construction meaning "inhabitant of Greece"
> Initially, I thought the same. But I started wondering whether there
> was this subtle difference:
>
> {'elaDya'ngan} = someone born, raised, and living in Greece
> {'elaDya' ngan} = someone living in Greece but who has come from another country
>
> lieven:
>> Additionally, at qepHom 2019, Okrand said:
>> "{-ngan} is generally translated as "people of", but it's more generally
>> used to indicate a group of beings, not necessarily beings from a
>> particular place. "
> Seemingly/apparently this means that the opposite of what I believed
> actually happens. {'elaDya'ngan} doesn't refer only to people born and
> raised in Greece, but to any other inhabitant too. And this shows that
> indeed there's no difference between {'elaDya'ngan} and {'elaDya'
> ngan}, as fergusq previously wrote.

No, that's not what it means. He's giving some wiggle room for, say, a 
*romuluSngan* who has never been to *romuluS, *but was brought up in a 
Romulan colony. Or a *tera'ngan* who was born and raised on the Moon.

So *-ngan* as an element of a compound noun means something like /one of 
the group of people associated with living on/in./ *ngan* as a separate 
word means /inhabitant of./ A human being is a *tera'ngan,* but the 
human's cat is not a *tera'ngan,* though it is a *tera' ngan.*


> lieven:
>> Note that Okrand wrote is using a hyphen. That does not mean it's a
>> suffix per definition, but it shows that {ngan} is usually attached to
>> the origin of people.
> This is very important indeed. The fact that 'oqranD chose to write
> {-ngan} instead of {ngan}, proves that we can freely attach it to any
> country/location/etc.

No, it doesn't prove that. Okrand may just have used the hyphen to 
indicate an element of a complex noun that comes at the end. It's not 
automatically an indication of productivity. I happen to think you /can/ 
freely attach it, provided it keeps the /people of/ meaning, but that 
hyphen isn't proof.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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