I like {cha' qa'vIn HIvje'}, because it fits the logic of the N1-N2 phrase. If {yaS taj} means "of the universsal set of knives, the one of the officer", and {romuluS HIq} means "of the universal set of liquors, the Romulan one", then {qa'vIn HIvje'} is "of the universal set of glasses, the one with coffee," and {cha' (qa'vIn HIvje')}" means "of the set of glasses of coffee, two of them". vuDwIj neH 'oH -- ter'eS From: Alan Anderson <qunchuy@alcaco.net> To: Klingon language email discussion forum <tlhingan-hol@kli.org> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 10:51 AM Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] The unforgivable sin On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 10:49 AM, mayqel qunenoS <mihkoun@gmail.com> wrote:
Qaghna'lIj vIngu'ta': HIvje' yItlhutlhQo'; qa'vIn'e' yItlhutlh!
hmm.. I didn't notice it. So, to say in klingon "I drink two cups of coffee" gives the impression that someone is drinking the cups and not the coffee ?
I don't know of an example that tells us how to quantify coffee. It could be the way you said it, {cha' qa'vIn HIvje'} "two coffee's glasses." Or it could be the other way around, {cha' HIvje' qa'vIn} "two glasses' coffee". Or it might be {qa'vIn cha' HIvje'} "two glasses of coffee". Or it could be that {HIvje'} is only the container and doesn't make sense as a measurement in Klingon. It's hard to find an English example that carries that feeling -- maybe "three wrappers of candy". Perhaps to indicate an amount of drink one must talk of {tlho'ren} instead, though the correct order of words is still uncertain. -- ghunchu'wI' _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org