tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 19 12:13:03 2005
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Re: Klingon WOTD: ben (noun)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Saturday, December 17, 2005.
>
>Klingon word: ben
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: years old
>
>Homonyms:
> ben (noun) - years ago
As used in canon:
cha'vatlh ben HIq vItlhutlh
I will drink Two Century Old Ale. PK
vagh SanID ben buDbe' wamwI'pu'.
5,000 years ago, hunters were not lazy. (st.k 11/99)
As discussed by Okrand:
The word {ben} can be used to mean "years old", but in Klingon,
one doesn't say "I am X years old". The phrase {loSmaH ben jIH},
if anything, would mean "40-year-old me" or the like. It would
parallel {cha'vatlh ben HIq} "Two Century Old Wine." "I am 40
years old" would be expressed as: {loSmaH ben jIboghpu'}. This
is "I was born 40 years ago". As is normal in Klingon sentences,
the time element (in this case, {loSmaH ben} "40 years ago")
comes first. [st.klingon 12/12/96]
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). [HQ 8.3]
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons