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'.