[Tlhingan-hol] Inherently plural nouns and numbers

[David Trimboli]

On 11/22/2011 12:44 PM, Steven Boozer wrote:
>
> ghunchu'wI':
>>> I can think of only one thing that's even slightly relevant to
>>> the question. "Always trust your instincts" is translated as
>>> {Duj tIvoqtaH} in TKD's appendix, and "Trust your instincts" is
>>> translated as {DujlIj yIvoq} in KGT.  Apparently {Duj} can be
>>> construed as inherently plural and thus grammatically singular,
>>> but it doesn't have to be.
>
> bI'reng:
>> TKD: I think this is more a case of leaving off the plural ending
>> and letting the verb prefix indicate the noun's number.
>>
>> As for KGT, it may seem strange to say "Always trust your instinct"
>> in English (what? I have just one?), but I see no reason why the
>> concept of instinct has to be plural. How many times do we say
>> things like "I know it by instinct"? Not instincts, not one
>> particular instinct, just instinct.
>
> lughlaw' ghunchu'wI':
>
> TKW 27:  The Klingon word for "instincts" is {Duj}, and it is
> grammatically correct to treat it as singular (a bundle or collection
> of instincts) or plural (individual instincts).

It says that {Duj} can be grammatically singular ("a collection of 
instincts")—that is, it's an inherently plural noun—or that {Duj} can be 
grammatically plural (i.e., {Dujmey}), where a single {Duj} is a single 
instinct.

In this case, both {DujlIj yIvoq} and {DujlIj tIvoq} are correct, but 
have a subtle difference. {DujlIj yIvoq} means "trust the collection of 
your instincts"; {DujlIj tIvoq} means "trust each of your instincts, 
taken individually.'

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/