On Sep 6, 2017 19:51, "Brent Kesler" <brent.of.all.people@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 9:45 AM, Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu> wrote:
Some examples of {ngIq} for comparison:

ngIq nuv luHoH
they killed the warriors one by one. ('u'-OPERA)

yerchajvo' Haw' qamchIynganpu' ngIq nuv luHoH
The people of Qam-Chee, they fled their territory, and were killed one by one (PB)

nIteb chegh molor ngIq ghoqwI'
One by one Molor's scouts return (PB)

ngIq raQvaD cha'maH vagh QaS yInob
For each outpost pay 25 forces. (MKE)

ngIq gholvaD vaghmaH QaS yInob
Pay each player 50 forces. (MKE)

ngIq gholvo' wa'maH QaS yItlhap
Collect 10 forces from every player. (MKE)

BTW notice the absence of {-taH} or {-qa'} on the verbs.

In these examples, "each" would make a good gloss for {ngIq}. But there are other examples that don't fit that idea, also from paq'batlh.

I think the problem here is that you're trying to map {ngIq} into a single English word or concept.

ngIq tonSaw' lo' 'ej tIqDu' lel
ngIq tonSaw' lo' 'ej quvqa'
ngIq tonSaw' lo' 'ej rIn may'

In one single move, he removed the hearts
In one single move, he restored his honor
In one single move, the battle was won

That makes the meaning of {ngIq} almost always ambiguous.

I disagree. It's fairly clear to me why the English translations are what they are. There may be ambiguity in that we don't fully know how to extend the use of {ngIq} *beyond* the examples, but I don't think the examples taken together are ambiguous.

Why does {ngIq nuv luHoH} mean "They kill each person" instead of "They kill a single person"?

Because {ngIq} always deals with a collection of things. If it meant "They kill a single person", what happens to the others?

Why does {nIteb chegh molor ngIq ghoqwI'} mean "one by one Molor's scouts return" instead of "Molor's single scout returned alone"?

Same.

Why does {ngIq tonSaw' lo'} mean "In a single move" instead of "With each move"?

It means something like "with one move out of a collection of moves". The surrounding context makes it clear the translation should be "in a single move" rather than "in each move".

I don't like that ambiguity, so I avoid {ngIq}.

Based on the canon examples, if you make a single statement with {ngIq veng}, it means "in each city (out of a collection of cities)". If you make a series of (structurally identical) statements with {ngIq veng}, you're explicitly listing what's done "in a single city" (going through each city in the collection). The ambiguity is in what happens if you use it in another way (e.g., how similar do the list of sentences have to be for the "single one" meaning?).

De'vID