Thursday, May 24, 2007

Swahili time

Oh, this is going to be fun!! Just to give you an example of what I'm trying to get my head round, here's a beginner's guide to telling the time in Kiswahili ... and apparently people don't wear watches! Am I ever going to get anywhere on time, though will it matter, I wonder?!

Swahili time
(East African) Swahili time runs from dawn to dusk, rather than midnight to midday. 7am and 7pm are therefore both one o'clock while midnight and midday are six o'clock. Words such as asubuhi 'morning', jioni 'evening' and usiku 'night' can be used to demarcate periods of the day, for example:
saa moja asubuhi ('hour one morning') 7:00 a.m.
saa tisa usiku ('hour nine night') 3:00 a.m.
saa mbili usiku ('hour two evening') 8:00 p.m.

More specific time demarcations include adhuhuri 'early afternoon', alasiri 'late afternoon', usiku wa manane 'late night/past midnight', 'sunrise' macheo and 'sunset' machweo.

At certain times there is some overlap of terms used to demarcate day and night, e.g. 7:00 p.m. can be either saa moja jioni or saa moja usiku.

Other relevant phrases include na robo 'and a quarter', na nusu 'and a half', kasarobo/kasorobo 'less a quarter', and dakika 'minute(s)':
saa nne na nusu ('hour four and a half') 10:30
saa tatu na dakika tano ('hour three and minutes five') five past nine
saa mbili kasorobo ('hour two less a quarter') 7:45
saa tatu kasoro ('a few minutes to nine')

No comments: