SuStel:
On the other hand, we also have constructions like baS ‘In, which means metal drum, and certainly not metal’s drum. Possession is only one function of the genitive noun-noun construction.
yes indeed, and that's the good thing with noun-noun constructions ; they have many functions. I don't remember who had told me this, but one of the first things I learned in klingon was that N1-N2, could be interpreted as "N2 being described by N1", or more simply "descriptor-thing described". However, I don't remember reading this in the TKD, or explicitly stated as a grammar rule. Well, good thing we didn't consider this as being an illegal use of a noun-noun construction.. We have already invented a lot of ways of grammar interpretation, in order to tie our hands and make our lives difficult. nach velwI' qIj On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 4:31 PM, Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu> wrote:
From the BOP Poster we have the N1-N2 noun-noun phrase {rugh bIQSIp} "anti-hydrogen" (lit. "antimatter hydrogen"). How is this grammatically different from *{betgham bIQSIp}?
For those not up on their Treknology:
(ST Encyclopedia): Deuterium was also used as one of the reactants in the matter/antimatter reaction system in those ships' warp drive. The deuterium was the matter, and anti-hydrogen served as the antimatter. (TNG "Relics")
FYI, {bIQSIp 'ugh} "deuterium isotope" (lit. "heavy hydrogen") also comes from the Poster comes from the BOP Poster.
-- Voragh
-----Original Message----- Fiat Knox <fiat_knox@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
So, now we know that betgham means liquid (n). Does that mean we can now use a noun-noun construction and officially call liquid nitrogen *betgham voQSIp?* Ditto for, say, liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and liquid gold?
I doubt it, since "liquid" in "liquid oxygen" is not a noun but an adjective.
{betgham voQSIp} would seem to me to mean "liquid nitrogen" as in "the nitrogen which is present in this liquid" rather than "nitrogen in liquid form".
"The liquid's nitrogen" or "nitrogen of the liquid" would be other ways of putting it.
A bit like how I interpret {nuH pegh} (the TKD example) not as a weapon secret (one concerning a weapon) but as a particular weapon's secret.
And indeed TKD, says that "N1-N2 (that is, noun #1 followed by noun #2) would be <N2 of the N1.>", so {betgham voQSIp} would be something like "nitrogen of the liquid".
Cheers, Philip
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