tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 11 07:18:32 2003
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Klingon WOTD: pIq (n)
This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, March 11, 2003.
Klingon word: pIq
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: time period from now
Additional Notes:
HolQeD 8:3.
(One might say that these are associated with the word {poH} "period of time.") These words follow the more specific time units. For example, "two minutes ago" is {cha' tup ret}, literally "two minute time-period-ago." "Two minutes from now" is {cha' tup pIq}. (It is also possible, though not necessary, to use the plural suffixes with the time units if there is more than one of them: {cha' tupmey ret}, {cha' tupmey pIq}.)
The words {ret} and {pIq} could also be used with days, months, and years (e.g., {wej jaj ret} "three days ago," rather than {wejHu'}, but utterances of these are not particularly common, sound a bit archaic, and are usually restricted to rather formal settings.
With longer time periods, such as a century ({vatlh DIS poH}, or a period of 10,000 years ("myriad," perhaps) ({netlh DIS poH}), the words {ret} or {pIq} may be used in place of {poH}, e.g., {cha' vatlh DIS poH} "two centuries," but {cha' vatlh DIS ret} "two centuries ago." The phrase {cha' vatlh ben} would mean "200 years ago." The choice of construction depends on what is being emphasized: in this case, the total number of centuries (two) or the total number of years (200).
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