tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 19 07:59:55 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: pIn (noun)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, June 18, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: pIn
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: expert, authority (slang)
"The word {pIn} is literally 'boss'. In its slang sense, it is never used
alone but always in constructions such as {'Iw HIq pIn} ('expert on
bloodwine, somebody who knows all about bloodwine'; literally, 'bloodwine
boss'). The word {pIn} is also found in nonslang terms referring to crew
members on a ship: {QeDpIn} (science officer), {QumpIn} (communications
officer). It is not known whether these words originated as slang and
became accepted as the regular terms or whether the use of {pIn} in the
sense of 'expert, authority' was modeled after the words {QeDpIn} and
{QumpIn}. Note that for the crew terms, in one case {pIn} follows a noun
({QeD}, 'science' thus, {QeDpIn} is 'science boss'), but in the other, it
follows what is found elsewhere only as a verb ({Qum}, 'communicate'),
suggesting that there may have been a noun {Qum} ('communication') at some
point in the past. The nonslang term for an expert is {po'wI'} (literally,
'one who is expert, skilled')." (KGT 158-59)
[Additional examples of crew terms are {jonpIn} "engineering officer" and
{nuHpIn} "weapons officer".]
>Homonyms:
> pIn (noun) - boss
Related nouns:
{pIn'a'} "master"; {qumwI'} "governor"; {vu'wI'} "manager'; {ngup}
"authority, power, one in authority, one in power, one in charge"; {loHwI'}
"magistrate"
Cf. also *{tlhIngan Hol yejHaD pIn} "KLI Director".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons