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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/11/2018 10:26 AM, qurgh lungqIj
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CALPi+eSC0XViL1LFHm=bExGyX4BEkFzsA0VTDVu5nQu_=L3UXw@mail.gmail.com">It's
my belief that the use of {-wI'} over {-wIj}, {ghaH} over {'oH},
etc says much more about the speaker's relationship with the
object in question than it does about the object itself. I don't
believe there is an objective list somewhere that says "X get's
this suffix, Y get's this suffix". It's all subjective. There is
no right or wrong, there is only the successful, or unsuccessful,
transfer of ideas and concepts from one individual to the next.</blockquote>
<p>I mostly agree. There are some times when a noun's gender is set
by the external language rather than by the individual speaker's
person opinion — <b>DeSqIvDu'</b> instead of <b>DeSqIvmey </b>for
the handles of pots, for instance — but most of the time the rule
is simply the usual <i>capable of using language/body
parts/other.</i> It's just that the speaker has latitude to
decide which category a noun belongs in. If you anthropomorphize
your targ to the point of believing it speaks to you, or if you
think parrots or computers actually understand what they're saying
to you, you'll use <b>ghaH</b> instead of <b>'oH,</b> because
you're just applying the usual rule according to your assessment
of these nouns' statuses.</p>
<p>You wouldn't normally vary your use of gender for a given noun,
unless maybe as a rhetorical device or to speak in another's
voice, or if your evaluation of two different entities using the
same noun are different (e.g., robot Number Five versus the other
Nova robots). Were she speaking Klingon, Dr. Pulaski would have
started out calling Data <b>'oH</b> and switched to calling him <b>ghaH</b>
as she came to realize her error. Most of the time a ballpoint pen
would be an <b>'oH,</b> but Veet Voojagig would have referred to
one as <b>ghaH.</b><br>
</p>
<p>Generally, there IS a right answer for most nouns, and listeners
would look at you suspiciously if you used the wrong gender. But
speakers are allowed to vary in the fuzzy areas where a reasonable
argument could be made in favor of an unexpected gender.<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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