Time in Ic̣aa'yanşi
Time for the Ic̣aa flows up -- a river as wide as the world, rushing ever skyward. While we cannot measure the entirety of the river, we can measure its cycles — the year, the phases of the moon, the day and night. This post describes how the Ic̣aa tell the time of day.
An Ic̣aa clock. The yellow dot on the left marks hour 0, when the day starts.
Words
yataw: 1 day
tiu: 1/16 yataw
aşatiu: 1/16 tiu (5.625 minutes)
ŋkaşanṭi: 1/16 aşatiu (~21.1 seconds)
c̣iŋkaşanṭi: 1/16 ŋkaşanṭi (~1.32 seconds)
Note: the language is base 16, so values 0-15 are written as 0-f.
One cycle of day and night is divided into 16 units called tiu, numbered 0-15. The term tiu originally meant shadow, as in the shadow of ancient Ic̣aa sundials, however the term is only used for the unit of time now. The day-night cycle begins at sunrise with the shadow of the sundial marking tiu 0. The shadow of the sundial at sunset marked tiu 8. The face of the Ic̣aa clock reflects this, with 0 on the left (the full yellow dot) and 8 on the right (the yellow half-dot).
Where English has two main levels of division for its hour — minutes and seconds — the Ic̣aa divide each tiu into three levels. While sundials were still the most common timekeeping device, each tiu was divided into 16 aşatiu — literally a “cut/divided tiu”. The Ic̣aa also developed water clocks for indoor use and for smaller units of time. Each aşatiu was divided into 16 ŋkaşanṭi, a term for a quantity of moving water. Finally, each ŋkaşanṭi is divided into 16 smaller c̣iŋkaşanṭi (c̣i (diminutive prefix) + ŋkaşanṭi), which is often shortened to c̣iŋka.
What Time is It?
There is no one single way to ask the time. One could use the general “when” question word.
Niṭaaritti
/niǃaːritːi/
ni-ǃaːri-tːi
3S.A-when-INT
When is it?
While this is understandable, like many other langauges, it is not natural for asking the time. The question “when” is usually used for questions like “When do you normally go to bed?” or for larger time spans like “When were the dinasaurs alive?” The more common way to ask time asks for the time specifically.
Keeping time originated with sundials, and people originally asked the time by inquiring how the shadow of the sundial was oriented. Ic̣aa'yanşi uses dispositionals for an oblong object to describe the orientation of the shadow for various times of the day, from lying down (sunrise/sunset), leaning during the morning and evening, and standing constrained around midday. During the night the shadow “hangs” at its tiu. When answering, the verbs correspond certain tiu throughout the day.
| Question Time | Answer Tiu | Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around sunrise/sunset | 0, 8 | suu'a | oblong object lying horizontal, fixed at one point, like a tree branch |
| During morning/evening | 1, 2, 6, 7 | iŋwa | oblong object leaning upright |
| Around noon | 3, 4, 5 | şwaa'a | oblong object standing constrained, like sticks in a cup |
| Night | 9-15 | nşwii'a | oblong object hanging down, fixed at one point |
(a) Asking around sunrise or sunset:
Ma ṭaxu nisu fatti 'u tiu?
/ma ǃaxu nisu fatːi ʔu tiu/
ma ǃaxu ni-su fa-tːi ʔu tiu
LOC what.condition 3S.A-lie.horizontal PFV-INT ABS shadow
What time is it? (lit. “How lies the shadow?”)
(b) Asking around noon:
Ma ṭaxu nişwa fatti 'u tiu?
/ma ǃaxu niʃwa fatːi ʔu tiu/
ma ǃaxu ni-ʃwa fa-tːi ʔu tiu
LOC what.condition 3S.A-standing PFV-INT ABS shadow
What time is it? (lit. “How stands the shadow?”)
Telling time
Since the divisions are all smaller divisions of the base (16), time is written as a four-digit number. The circle with a line dividing it is a marker showing that the number is specifically a time, not a general number.
| Time | Tiu | Aşatiu | Ŋkaşanṭi | C̣iŋkaşanṭi | Time on 24h Clock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 06:00:00 |
| | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:00:00 |
| | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18:00:00 |
| | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00:00:00 |
When answering, the four digits are usually grouped into two numbers from 0-ff: one number for the tiu and aşatiu and one number for the ŋkaşanṭi and c̣iŋkaşanṭi. The second number is usually rounded to the nearest ŋkaşanṭi. If only broad accuracy is needed, the first number (tiu and aşatiu) can be used as an answer alone. In addition, the term tiu is usually dropped when answering, since it is understood. In casual speech, the verb can be dropped as well, leaving only the locative marker and the numbers for the time.
So, for the time 064f (around 6:30 in the morning), any of the following answers are valid.
(a) Exact time:
Nisu faa ma nsiilyu illayşu iḷu.
/nisu faː ma ⁿsiːlju ilːajʃu iǁu/
ni-su faː ma ⁿsiːlju ilːajʃu iǁu
3S.A-lie.horizontal PFV LOC 6 40 f
It is 6 4f.
(b) Rounded to nearest ŋkaşanṭi:
Nisu faa ma nsiilyu iransaaşu.
/nisu faː ma ⁿsiːlju iraⁿsaːʃu/
ni-su faː ma ⁿsiːlju iraⁿsaːʃu
3S.A-lie.horizontal PFV LOC 6 50
It is 6 50. (rounded to nearest ŋkaşanṭi)
(c) Only tiu and aşatiu:
Nisu faa ma nsiilyu.
/nisu faː ma ⁿsiːlju/
ni-su faː ma ⁿsiːlju
3S.A-lie.horizontal PFV LOC 6
It is 6.
(d) Rounded to the nearest WTF ARE YOU DOING WAKING ME UP AT THIS HOUR?!
'Ya nsantu. Niiirii.
/ʔja ⁿsaⁿtu. niiːriː./
∅-ʔja ⁿsa-ⁿtu. ni-iːri=i.
∅-speak CESS-IMP 3S.A-early=EMPH
Shut up. It's way early.
To have enough time to...
Time cannot be possessed in Ic̣aa'yanşi; one does not "have" time. The Ic̣aa view possibilities as branching off to one's sides. This view combines with the river analogy in an expression that time for someone is “wide enough” to do something.
'U 'iiri 'asinşi fatti tuu'a 'u saŋuu?
/ʔu ʔiːri ʔa-siⁿʃi fa-tːi tuːʔa ʔu saŋuː/
ʔu ʔiːri ʔa-siⁿʃi fa-tːi ∅-tuːʔa ʔu saŋuː
ABS near.future ATTR-wide PFV-INT INF-eat.PFV ABS meal
Do you have time to eat something (soon)? (lit. Is the near future wide enough to eat a meal?)
Other imagery and beliefs based time being a great river flowing up exist, but those are stories for another day. Thanks for reading!