Re: Cardinal vs Ordinal Age

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.