[95125] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: ret
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Fri Nov 30 10:50:48 2012
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "tlhingan-hol@kli.org" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:50:37 +0000
In-Reply-To: <731e643b06ab966676d99d713ab44b6d@localhost.localdomain>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@stodi.digitalkingdom.org
> Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, November 30, 2012
>
> Klingon word: ret
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: time period ago (past)
> Source: HQ (8:3 p3):
It follows the noun specifying the length of time involved, as in {cha' tup ret} "two minutes ago". It is to {poH} what {Hu'} is to {jaj}. (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} ... "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}), millennium ({SaD 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).
AFAIK neither {ret} nor {pIq} have been used in canon, other than the above HolQeD article in which they were introduced.
PUN:
cf. Rhett Butler from "Gone With the Wind"?
Related nouns:
ben years ago, years old
nem years from now
pIq period of time from now
poH period of time
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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