tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 24 15:02:11 2009
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Re: pu'jIn
Christopher Doty wrote:
> Well, architect is technically "chief builder," which could also have
> other interpretations in English, but doesn't.
>
> This seems easy to explain, though:
>
> pu'jIn chenmoHwI'
>
> If one needed to specify the difference between a map maker and a
> plans maker, one could say
>
> qach pu'jIn chenmoHwI' or puH pu'jIn chenmoHwI'
>
> Architecture could then be (qach) pu'jIn chenmoHghachQeD.
>
> No?
I doubt I'd go through this reasoning if I were to encounter this in
text or in a conversation. Putting aside for the moment the issue of
whether we can create new compound nouns, I see "(building) map/plan
making science." {pu'jIn chenmoHghach QeD} (or, more simply, {pu'jIn
QeD}) makes me think of cartography, not architecture, and I'm not sure
adding {qach} would clarify it sufficiently. It's a rather unwieldy term
in any case.
What you have here is an example of what we call "hindsight words":
terms that you invent through a logical derivation, but which only make
sense when you already know what they're supposed to mean. This tends to
happen a lot when trying to come up with ways of translating scientific
or professional jargon. One should always try to eliminate hindsight
words from one's Klingon.
--
SuStel
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