tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 24 15:02:11 2009

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Re: pu'jIn

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']



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
tlhIngan Hol MUSH
http://trimboli.name/mush






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