Use wej before a noun to count three items, after a noun with -DIch for third, and with -logh for three times.
Use wej before a noun to count three items, after a noun with -DIch for third, and with -logh for three times.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Duj wej DIghaj. | wej Duj DIghaj. |
| wej Duj vIlegh. | wej Duj DIlegh. |
| Duj wejDIch DIlegh. | wej Duj DIlegh. |
Use wej at the beginning of a statement, question, or command for “not yet,” and do not add another negative suffix.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| wej paq vIlaDbe'. | wej paq vIlaD. |
| paq wej vIlaD. | wej paq vIlaD. |
| wej qoq yItI'Qo'! | wej qoq yItI'! |
Let syntax distinguish the two senses. wej before a noun counts three, while sentence-initial wej before a clause means “not yet.”
wej paq vIlaDbe' doubles the negation, while paq wej changes the counting structure from three books to book number three.
Marc Okrand lists wej in The Klingon Dictionary both as the number “three” and as the adverb “not yet,” without deriving one from the other. KLI teaching material reports that wa', cha', and wej survived from an older base-three counting system, while the higher digit names came from musical notes.
What does wej mean?
wej means the number “three” and also the adverb “not yet.” Context and its position in the sentence distinguish the two senses.
How is wej pronounced?
wej is pronounced /wɛd͡ʒ/, with e like the vowel in English bed and j like the sound at the start of judge.
Why does wej have two meanings?
Marc Okrand records both meanings as homonyms but gives no derivation connecting them. The number belongs to the inherited first three digit names.
Where does number wej go in a sentence?
For counting, wej comes before the noun, as in wej Duj for “three ships.” With -DIch after a noun it forms an ordinal, and -logh forms “three times.”
How is adverbial wej used?
Adverbial wej normally begins the clause and already makes it negative. It works in statements, questions, and commands without -be' or -Qo'.