Plurals 2: Awkward Nouns

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Some nouns are awkward, in that they can't be given the -mey suffix. Instead of the -mey suffix, a whole other noun exists instead describing the plural form of the singular noun.

jo	(n)	resources
cha	(n)	torpedoes
chuyDaH	(n)	thrusters
ray'	(n)	targets

These inherently plural nouns have utterly distinct singular counterparts:-

Sup	(n)	resource
peng	(n)	torpedo
vIj	(n)	thruster
DoS	(n)	target

When using jo, cha, chuyDaH or ray' in a sentence, these nouns are treated gramatically as singular nouns; you use singular pronouns to describe them.

ray' vIlegh I see the targets

jo vIlo' I use the resources

By way of showing the example more clearly, the sentence We see the targets is

ray' wIlegh We see the targets

rather than *ray' DIlegh*, which has the incorrect verb prefix.

Likewise, the proper usage is jo wIlo' We use the resources.

Can a tlhIngan Hol sentence contain plural forms of the inherently singular nouns vIj, DoS or peng taking the -mey suffix? Actually, yes: you can quite happily have vIjmey thrusters, DoSmey targets or pengmey torpedoes in a sentence. However, the suffix in this case carries a specific meaning of scattered, all over the place:-

DoSmey targets all over the place

Supmey scattered resources

pengmey vIlegh I see torpedoes all over the place

Other such apparently inherently plural nouns turn up in The Klingon Dictionary such as begh deflectors and qawHaq memory banks, without corresponding singular nouns. They will occasionally turn up here and there and, in some cases such as the noun Sut clothing, the jury's still out on whether or not they can be classified as inherently plural nouns in the same light as the above nouns. Until then, use the singular prefix for the likes of qawHaq in a sentence, and at all times, exercise judgment.

Abstract Nouns

Some nouns such as ruv justice (n), veS warfare (n), quv honour and chuQun nobility describe abstract terms. These can be considered to be inherently singular nouns with no plural counterparts when you are describing them as abstract concepts in a sentence.

ruv yaj tlhIngan The Klingon understands justice

(yaj understand (v))

veS tIv tlhIngan The Klingon enjoys warfare

Again, when you see a noun that looks as if it is describing an abstract concept, use your best judgment and think about whether such a noun would sound absurd with the -mey suffix tacked on to it. If it doesn't sound absurd (e.g. chaw'mey permits) then use -mey and be damned.

The next lesson looks at the next of the three classes of plural suffix - one specifically for body parts.

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