SuStel:
even in English we don't use one consistent rule.
The same happens in Greek too. Why doesn't someone who knows 'oqranD personally, send him a mail in order to clarify the matter ? qunnoq On Sep 1, 2017 19:08, "SuStel" <sustel@trimboli.name> wrote:
On 9/1/2017 11:32 AM, demonchaux.aurelie wrote:
Thank you all for your replies and thoughts on this !
* HIq qIj reghuluS 'Iw HIq ghap jab They serve Black Ale or Regulan bloodwine. (CK) {A B ghap jab} “they serve them” not {lujab} “they serve it”*
This is a great example, and I think this gives us the solution, thank you for digging it up!
I was convinced that if A and B were both singular, "A B ghap" would be considered singular when choosing the verb prefix, and that's why I thought joq might be singular in those cases, and I couldnt choose between singular or plural. But this proves the contrary !
So, to sum up, whether A and B are singular or plural, and whether we use je or ghap, A + B + je / ghap is always plural.
Logically, A + B + joq is thus also always plural !
So the correct sentence in my example is: vIraS Hol tlhIngan Hol joq DIghojnIS
tuQaHmo' Satlho' :)
It's an interesting data point, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. Okrand forgets the prefix *lu-* often enough that he even points out that Klingons forget *lu-* more than any other prefix.
Then there's this example from *HolQeD* 12:2*,* which seems to contradict your analysis:
*naQ megh'an 'er'In ghap yI'uch **grasp either end of the stick*
The words *'er'In* and *megh'an* are *definitely* intended to be singular here. If a *ghap* construction always got interpreted as plural, the verb should have been *tI'uch,* but it wasn't. And yes, sometimes Okrand forgets to use *tI-* and uses *yI-* instead. So we have two contradictory conclusions, each of which is based on examples with grammatical rules that Okrand commonly gets wrong.
Finally, even in English we don't use one consistent rule. *Either Bob or Linda are coming over.* A finicky grammarian would complain that the verb should have been *is;* nobody else would even have noticed. I could easily see a native English speaker, constructing a Klingon sentence, following the same fuzzy rules.
-- SuStelhttp://trimboli.name
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