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Re: Cardinal vs Ordinal Age

From:Roger Mills <romilly@...>
Date:Monday, November 3, 2003, 15:54
Nik Taylor wrote:

> dansulani wrote: > > Or, loosely, "He/She is enduring for the 40th time a year". > > Wouldn't you use "41st"? The year you were born was the first time, but > in English, is not "one". You don't turn "one" until you've lived a > whole year, when you enter your *second* year of life, and so on. > > The Kassi use ordinals that way. So, where I'd say "I'm 25 years old" > in English, I'd say "I'm in my 26th year" in Uatakassi. >
This is the Kash system as well (the day you're born is your 1st "birth-day"-- just as the beginning of the day at midnight is called 0100hrs). But they don't use ordinals in the most common expression-- "fiyan pehandi?" ["fi(j)ambe'xandi] how-many year-your how old are you? "pehambi mepola." [pe'xambi me'pol@] year-my 10 I am 10 years old-- i.e. I have passed my 10th bday/I am in my 11th year. You could use an ordinal in e.g.-- riyanjuni pehañi kurofola-ro.... at-time-its year-his ORD-two-ten two... during his/the twentieth year.... but that's considered pedantic ~over-precise. riyanjuni pehañi rofola-ro... is much more common.