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

[SuStel]

On 1/26/2022 7:52 AM, Iikka Hauhio wrote:
> *'elaDya'ngan *is same as *'elaDya' ngan*, a noun-noun construction 
> meaning "inhabitant of Greece". For arbitrary reasons, people write 
> spaces between some words and not between other words. Spaces are as 
> unimportant as are commas, periods, and so on. You can use them if you 
> want.

As per my previous message, I disagree. According to what Okrand said, 
*'elaDya'ngan* means a member of the people of Greece, a Greek, while 
*'elaDya' ngan* means an inhabitant of Greece whether they're Greek or not.


> Some people are firmly against writing words together without spaces 
> because they think it is same as "inventing new words". This is not 
> true, it is just a matter of convention how to punctuate the Okrandian 
> notation and has nothing to do with inventing words. In reality, 
> people write noun-noun constructs together all the time without 
> spaces, for example *SochleS*, *SuwomIyngan*, *mI'tej*, *ta'puq*, etc. 
> etc.

yesusingspacesandotherkindsofpunctuationareaconventionbutsomeconventionsaremoreimportantthanothers 
On this list, the convention is to not forge new compound nouns where 
there is no precedent for doing so. Numbers attached to *leS, Hu',* and 
so on are attested in canon, as are nouns with *-ngan.* We have been 
given *mI' tej* (with a space) by Okrand, and people who attach *tej* or 
*QeD* to words are at least following an apparent pattern, even though 
it goes against our convention. (And you can do what you like if your 
compound is a proper noun.) Lieven was given special dispensation to 
write *ta'puq* and told specifically that it wasn't actually a canonical 
word. ("Maltz agreed that whatever it is, it's the word for this guy in 
the story and does not establish how it fits in with (native) Klingon 
words for rulers or government officials or the like." You wouldn't need 
a special note like that if you could freely form compounds like this.)

Clearly, there is SOME process that turns noun-noun constructions into 
compound nouns. And just as clearly, that process is NOT "shove nouns 
together freely." Without more data on this, and we have very little, we 
do not create new compounds ourselves. It is the convention of this 
list, and most places you find Klingonists, that you use spaces to 
separate all lexemes (including their affixes) from each other. That 
includes nouns in a noun-noun relationship. If you want to create a 
compound noun, you'll have to convince everyone either that your 
compound is canonical or that there is sufficient evidence to show that 
creating a lexeme is warranted.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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