Greek to Sesotho: milk, kinds of milk, and containers of milk are different quantities
A noun-class change can identify kinds rather than bottles
Greek γάλα usually names milk as a substance, but context can also describe varieties, packaged products, or servings. Sesotho has its own noun-class choices for mass substances and their plural interpretations. A translation must establish what is being counted before converting a Greek plural or adding a target plural prefix.
Katherine Demuth’s grammatical sketch gives le-bese for milk and explains ma-bese as types of milk. The plural-class change is therefore not automatically a count of containers. A Greek shopping message asking for two cartons needs to preserve the carton unit rather than assume that a plural form of milk alone expresses it.
One substance can be divided in several ways
Compare the original Greek phrases δύο ποτήρια γάλα, two glasses of milk, and δύο είδη γάλακτος, two kinds of milk. Both contain a quantity of two, but the first counts servings or vessels and the second counts varieties. The milk itself need not change composition when it is poured into a second glass.
The Sesotho example of a kinds interpretation is relevant to the second phrase. It does not justify replacing the first with the same expression and dropping the glasses. Two glasses of one variety and two varieties in one tasting session are different orders, even if the total liquid volume happens to be equal.
The Centre for the Greek Language’s corpus also records plural γάλατα in a shop-shelf context. That attestation shows why a Greek plural cannot be interpreted from morphology alone as two biological substances. Retail context may refer to products on display, so the translation needs the relevant product or container reading.
Greek neuter agreement does not select a Sesotho class
Greek γάλα is neuter, while the Sesotho sketch places le-bese in class 5. A source adjective’s neuter ending cannot be copied as a target agreement category. Demuth’s example of children liking fresh milk shows that the adjective describing the milk takes the corresponding target noun-class agreement.
The children in that example control one agreement relationship, and the milk controls another. A Greek sentence such as Τα παιδιά πίνουν φρέσκο γάλα, the children drink fresh milk, likewise involves separate participants, but its plural subject and neuter object do not supply Sesotho class prefixes. The target must keep the drinkers distinct from the substance described.
Changing a product note from milk to kinds of milk can consequently affect modifiers as well as the noun. The source description of freshness or origin still belongs to the intended product, but its target grammatical form must follow the chosen noun phrase. A plural prefix is part of an agreement system, not a detachable label meaning more.
The sketch’s mass-noun example is a specific illustration, not a claim that every Sesotho mass noun forms a plural in exactly that way. For a Greek recipe, order, or tasting description, distinguish the substance, the number of portions, and the number of varieties. Those meanings determine whether the target needs a mass expression, an explicit measure, or a kinds interpretation.
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