[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: renwI'

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, April 05, 2021

Klingon word: 	renwI'
Part of speech: 	noun
Definition: 	architect
Source: 	qepHom 2011, Email from Marc Okrand of 25 October 2011
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(MO to architect Lieven Litaer, 10/24/2011):  [Maltz] did say, though, that there is a verb {ren} that means design or map out or plan. He said that {renwI'} (which I guess in its most general sense means designer) is a perfectly good term for architect, but it can also be used for someone who designs a vehicle, say. That is, it's not restricted to buildings. He said it would not be used for architect in the sense of someone being the architect of a plan to do something; it has to be used of a person who designs a physical object of some sort.  [...]  {ren} is not the same as {'ogh} "invent", which implies creating something that hasn't been created before. And it's not the same as {nab} "plan" which is used for planning an event (or a battle strategy or whatever), just as the noun {nab} "plan" cannot be used to refer to blueprints.

PUN:
 1. Christopher Wren built St. Pauls' Cathedral in London;
 2. the branch of the Smithsonian Institute (where Marc Okrand used to teach) in Washington D.C. is called the "Renwick Gallery", designed by architect James Renwick. 

(MO to architect Lieven Litaer, 10/24/2011):  Marc Okrand said to me at qepHom X: 'These are even two reasons for the word to be {renwI'}. 

(Lieven told Okrand that it was difficult to describe his job as an architect in Klingon. Here's Okrand's answer [11/20/2009)]:  I did see him [Maltz] earlier today as he was running off to grab a cup of coffee or something. I told him about the lack of good words relating to architecture. He said he wasn't an architect himself, so he'd have to think about that. But he did know the word for plan (the big piece of paper). He said it's {pu'jIn} -- same as the word for map. 

PUN: 
Pugin (and Charles Barry) built the Houses of Parliament (Fiat Knox)

SEE:
qurbuSwI' 	architect (Morskan dialect))

(Lieven Litaer, 11/15/2011):  I had asked in advance what Klingons would use to describe an architect, which is my job. I suggested the word {qurbuSwI'}, which my Morskan friend told me. Friends of architecture might see a pun here already ;-) Marc Okrand explained his own pun to me too, but I'll let you find it out. It's even a double pun!

(MO to Lieven Litaer, 10/24/2011):  I asked him about Morskan {qurbuSwI'} [architect]. He said he wasn't really all that familiar with Morskan, but then he thought about it a little more and said he did know a word {Qur} that might be related, though it was difficult to translate. The best he could come up with was "structure" or "organization." He was quick to point out that this did not mean "structure" like a building is a structure, nor did it mean "organization" like an organization of people or even an organization of states. It means the way things fit together or the arrangement of the parts of something bigger. He said it could be used for "anatomy" when talking about animals. Though he looked a little pained when I suggested it, he agreed that one could say that Scotty understood the {Qur} of the Enterprise.

PUN:
Swiss-French architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (1887 –1965), known as Le Corbusier

--
Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
    Please contribute relevant vocabulary from the last year or two. I’ve fallen 
    behind in updating my files and adding cross-references for related words.