[Tlhingan-hol] qIHpu'ghach wa'DIch: 'ay' cha'

[Rohan Fenwick - QeS 'utlh]

jIghItlhpu', jIjatlh:
> My counter-argument would be that {-'a'} applies only to the word {ngogh},
> not the whole phrase, and the {Borg ngogh'a'} certainly is remarkable by
> the standards of what usually constitutes a {ngogh}.

mujang De'vID, jatlh:
> That's how I read it, i.e., as {[Borg] [ngogh'a']} not {[Borg ngogh]['a']}.

wa' DoS wIqIpmo' jIbel.

jang je loghaD, jatlh:
> While I agree that the -'a' mostly refers to the ngogh, I feel the word
> "Borg" sets the context. "From the class of Borg-related things, take a
> block"...  ...and by the standards of this class, this is not ngogh'a';
> it's just a standard-issue ngogh.
> I doubt there is such a thing as a universal measure for ngoghmey.

Oh, absolutely, and remember also that size is not the only factor (or even
always *a* qualifying factor) in justifying the use of {-'a'}. A mIv'a', for
instance, would probably always be smaller and made of less material than a
mIv.

> qeylIS betleH would probably be held as a betleH'a', but it's not called
> qeylIS betleH'a';

Why not? Again, I understand it as [qeylIS] [betleH'a'] "the great bat'leth
of Kahless", not [qeylIS betleH]['a'] "the greatest of Kahless's bat'leths".

Let me argue by analogy with {-Hom}. If a Klingon were to say {romuluS wo'
rojHom} "the Romulan Empire truce", I don't think it implies the Romulans
and the Klingons have previously had {roj} at all, or even that they expect
to ever have one. As such, I don't think it makes sense to analyse {romuluS
wo' rojHom} as [romuluS wo' roj][Hom], implying that it's one little period
of Romulan peace among many periods of Romulan peace. It only implies that
it's one minor period of peace among many other periods of peace; none of
the others need be with the Romulans.

> it receives its grandeur from being prefixed by "qeylIS".
> If you were to refer to qeylIS betleH'a', I'd assume you were talking
> about the greatest of his many betleHmey.

That's where we differ: I absolutely agree, it's the greatest of all things
classed as betleHmey, but I don't think one can make the assumption a priori
that it's the greatest of *Kahless's* many betleHmey.

QeS 'utlh