[87056] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: pu'jIn
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Trimboli)
Tue Nov 24 18:02:32 2009
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:01:11 -0500
From: David Trimboli <david@trimboli.name>
In-reply-to: <a1173fff0911241430h3f8c569fyb9402be50132d270@mail.gmail.com>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
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
