chaHvaD nIb yan wIjwI' jan je
They don't know how to distinguish a sword from a plough! (PB 142f.)

KGT 60f.: The word 'etlh is used for sword in general, but it really means blade of any kind... Another word normally translated sword, yan, is more specific, referring to swords (that is, weapons with long blades) only.

KGT 19: In the Krotmag Region "a sword is often termed yan 'etlh (or even 'etlh yan)--literally, "sword sword".

There's a photo of Worf's portable lat (shrine?) with its carved doors open, containing a statuette of what appears to be Kahless holding a conventional sword (interestingly, NOT his bat'leth) on TKW 210. Also, some of the huge statues in the Subpu' vaS (Hall of Heroes) at Ty'Gokor were holding straight swords; there's a photo of Gowron standing in front of two such statues in KGT 98 (cf. DS9 "Apocalypse Rising").

Duras used a straight sword in his fight with Worf after the death of K'Ehleyr. (TNG "Reunion")

"The Klingon Empire has maintained a dueling tradition; they think they can beat us with swords." (Kirk, TOS "Day of the Dove")

yan wield, use or manipulate a sword KGT (v)

naH jajmeywIj betleH vIyanbe'
In my vegetable days, I did not wield a bat'leth. KGT

KGT 61: There is also the verb yan, which means wield or manipulate (a sword). A swordfighter, then, would be a yanwI', literally a sword wielder); the word for the specific type of sword may be, but need not be, included. It is thus proper to say betleH yanwI' (bat'leth wielder) or betleH yan (He/she wields a bat'leth).

KGT 79: ... in addition to saying betleH yan (He/she wields a bat'leth), one could say betleH raQ (He/she controls a bat'leth).

KGT 59f.: There is an extensive vocabulary for the moves associated with bat'leth use. To thrust or lunge toward one's opponent, for example, is jop. To deflect a thrust-that is, to parry--is way'. To thrust either end of the bat'leth (as opposed to the long part of the blade) upward is chaQ. To change the approximate orientation of the weapon from horizontal to vertical is ngol; the reverse is lev. To slide the blade of one's bat'leth along the blade of the opponent's weapon is DIj. To twirl or rotate the bat'leth is jIrmoH and to toss it from one hand to the other (the same word is used whether left to right or right to left) is baQ.

[Presumably, these verbs may be used WRT yanmey and other bladed weapons. However, for wielding axes & clubs use Qach.

yan 'ISletlh Yan-Isleth (MKE)

The *Yan-Isleth*, or "Brotherhood of the Sword", is an elite Klingon division charged with protecting the chancellor, whom they guard at all times; i.e. it's his personal security force. (DS9 "Apocalypse Rising")

Qang QanmeH yan 'ISletlh Damuv 'e' wIvlu'.
You are chosen to serve on the Yan-Isleth and protect the chancellor. MKE

yanoy a known bang pong [cf. KGT 201]

"*Tawi'Yan* is a term in Klingonese meaning 'sword-bearer'. In a Klingon wedding the *Tawi'Yan* was their equivalent of Earth's best man. Alexander Rozhenko acted as the *Tawi'Yan* in his father Worf's wedding to Jadzia Dax in 2374." (DS9 "You are Cordially Invited"; cf. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tawi'Yan)

PUN:
"[Okrand] canonized the word yan from Yan-Isleth "Brotherhood of the Sword" (SuSvaj at qep'a' 2006, 7/06). By coincidence, *yahn* means "edge of a sword" in Cantonese (lay'tel SIvten).

Slang for the tool used to play a ngItHel, a type of musical instrument.