[tlhIngan Hol] verb prefix on XvaD Y ponglu' construction when Y is plural

[SuStel]

On 7/6/2022 10:07 AM, Iikka Hauhio wrote:
> SuStel:
>
>     /Panatheneans,/being plural, should be treated as plural when used
>     as a foreign word in Klingon.*yupma'vaD panatheneans ponglu'.*
>
> ​*
> *
> I think there is an error in this message, since you use singular 
> *ponglu'*. So do you think that the word should be treated as plural 
> (and the verb should be *luponglu'*), or that the word should be 
> treated as singular (and the verb should be *ponglu'*)?
>
> In my opinion, the word should be treated as singular, since it's a 
> name and a foreign word.

Yes, I should have used the *lu-.*

Being a foreign word has nothing to do whether a word is treated as 
singular or plural. It's plural. It should be treated grammatically as 
plural.

Being a name is irrelevant here, since the Klingon grammar isn't "it is 
called 'X'" but "one names the Xes." Literally, the Klingon sentence 
isn't directly assigning a label to something; it is saying that you 
name something, which you identify with the label with which you name it.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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