Ten
dah ak (Persian) the ten vices – named after the tyrant Zahhak who was notorious for ten defects of body or mind: ugliness, shortness of stature, excessive pride, indecency, gluttony, scurrility, cruelty, hastiness, falsehood and cowardice
Expressed numerically
Specific numbers are also used in some colloquial phrases:
mettre des queues aux zeros (French) to add tails to noughts (to overcharge)
siete (Spanish, Central America) seven (a right-angled tear)
Mein Rad hat eine Acht (German) my bike has an eight (a buckled wheel)
se mettre sur son trente et un (French) to put yourself on your thirty-one (to get all dressed up)
ein Gesicht wie 7 Tage Regenwetter haben (German) to have a face like seven days of rain (a long face)
Kissin time
The adult understanding of the French number soixante-neuf (69) is well known. Less familiar is the other meaning of quatrevingt-huit (88) – a kiss.
Take your time
Not everyone sees time in terms of past, present and future. The Kipsigis of the Nile region have three types of past tense: today’s past, yesterday’s past and the distant past. Several American Indian languages divide the past tense into the recent past, remote past and mythological past; other languages have different definitions:
pal (Hindi) a measure of time equal to twenty-four seconds
ghari (Hindi) a small space of time (twenty-four minutes)
tulat (Malay) the third day hence
xun (Chinese) a period of ten days (in a month) or a decade (in someone’s life)
jam karet (Indonesian) rubber time (an indication that meetings may not necessarily start on time)
Can’t say exactly when
In Hindi, the word for yesterday, kal, is the same as that for tomorrow (only the tense of the attached verb tells you which). And in Punjabi parson means either the day before yesterday or the day after tomorrow.
Time of day
Around the world different cultures have created highly specific loosely clock-related vocabulary that divides up the day. The Zarma people of Western Africa use wete to cover mid-morning (between nine and ten); the Chinese wushi is from eleven to one; and the Hausa (of Nigeria) azahar takes in the period from one-thirty to around three. The Samoan word afiafi covers both late afternoon and evening, from about 5 p.m. till dark. They call the period right after sunset afiafi po; this is then followed after a couple of hours by po, the dead of night. Of the various expressions for dusk, perhaps the most evocative is the French entre chien et loup – literally, between the dog and the wolf.
Elevenses
Dutch (and other Germanic languages) confusingly uses half twaalf for 11.30. While in Africa they are more long-winded for this specific time of day:
baguo gbelleng pie ne yeni par miti lezare ne pie (Dagaari Dioula, Burkina Faso)
isikhathi yisigamu emva kwehora leshumi nanye (Zulu)
metsotso e mashome a meraro ka mora hora ya leshome
le motso e mong (Sesotho, Southern Africa)
Shouting the distance
Krosa is Sanskrit for a cry, and thus has come to mean the distance over which a man’s call can be heard, roughly two miles. In the central forests of Sri Lanka calculations of distance are also made by sound: a dog’s bark indicates a quarter of a mile; a cock’s crow some-thing more; and a hoo is the space over which a man can be heard when shouting the word at the highest pitch of his voice. While in the Yakut language of Siberia, kiosses represents a specific distance calculated in terms of the time it takes to cook a piece of meat.
Tip to toe
Parts of the body have long been used to define small distances – the foot in the imperial system of measuring, for example. The Zarma people of Western Africa find the arm much more useful: kambe kar is the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and gande is the distance between two outstretched arms. Elsewhere we find:
dos (Hmong, China) from the thumb tip to the middle-finger tip
muku (Hawaiian) from the fingers of one hand to the elbow of the opposite arm when it is extended
sejengkal (Malay) the span between the tips of the stretched thumb and little finger
dangkal (Kapampangan, Philippines) between thumb and forefinger
The Micmac calendar
The Mikmawisimk language of the Micmac Indians is spoken by some eight thousand people in Canada and the USA. Their twelve months all have highly evocative names:
English
Mikmawisimk
Literal translation
January
Punamujuikús
the cod are spawning
February
Apunknajit
the sun is powerful
March
Siwkewikús
maple sugar
April
Penamuikús
birds lay eggs
May
Etquljuikús
frogs are croaking
June
Nipnikús
foliage is most verdant
July
Peskewikús
birds are moulting
August
Kisikwekewikús
it’s ripening time
September
Wikumkewikús
it’s moose-calling time
October
Wikewikús
our animals are fat and tame
November
Keptekewikús
the rivers are about to freeze
December
Kiskewikús
chief moon
False friends
fart (Turkish) excess or exaggeration
dim (Welsh) zero
age (Hindi and Urdu, Pakistan) in the future
beast (Persian) twenty
slut (Swedish) end or finish
tilt (Cantonese) one-third
Caribou calendar
Similar charmingly named months make up the various Inuit calendars. January is siqinnaarut, the month when the sun returns; February is qangattaarjuk, referring to the sun getting higher and higher in the sky; March is avunniit, when premature baby seals are born: some make it, some freeze to death; April is natsijjat, the proper month for seal pups to be born; May is tirigluit, when bearded seals are born; June is manniit, when the birds are laying eggs; July is saggaruut, the sound of rushing water as the rivers start to run; August is akulliruut, when the summer has come and the caribous’ thick hair has been shed; September is amiraijaut, when the caribou hair is neither too thin nor too thick but just right for making into clothing; October is ukialliruut, when the caribou antlers lose their covers; November is tusaqtuut, when the ice forms and people can travel to see other people and get news; December is taujualuk, a very dark month.
Tea time
Tea is a fundamental part of Chinese culture, so it’s no surprise to find that there’s an elaborate calendar relating to the growth and preparation of it:
Chinese
Literal translation
Western Calendar
Li Chun
spring starts
5 February
Yushui
the rains come
19 February
Jingzhe
insects wake up
5 March
Chunfen
spring equinox
20 March
Qingming
clear and bright
5 April
Guyu
grain rain
20 April
Lixia
summer starts
5 May
Chinese
Literal translation
Western Calendar
Xiaoman
grains fill out
21 May
Mangzhong
the grain is in ear
6 June
Xiazhu
summer solstice
Xiaoshu
little heat
7 July
Dashu
big heat
23 July
Liqiu
autumn starts
7 August
Chushu
limit to food
23 August
Bailu
white dew
8 September
Qiufen
autumn equinox
23 September
Hanlu
cold dew
8 October
Shuangjiang
frost descends
23 October
Lidong
winter starts
7 November
Xiaoxue
little snow
22 November
Daxue
big snow
7 December
Dongzhi
winter solstice
21 December
Xiohan
little cold
6 January
Dahan
big cold
26 January
Halcyon days
In 2002 President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan decided to rename both the months of the year and the days of the week. Some months were to take the names of heroes of Turkmenistan’s past, but January was to become Turkmenbashi, after the president’s official name (‘Head of all the Turkmen’). In response to his suggestion that April should become known as ‘Mother’, one of his supporters suggested that instead it should be named after the president’s mother, Gurbansoltan-eje. The president heeded this advice.
The days of the week were also renamed: Monday became Major (main or first) Day; Tuesday, Young Day; Wednesday, Favourable Day; Thursday, Blessed Day; Friday remained as it was; but Saturday became Spiritual Day; and Sunday, Rest Day.
Revolutionary
Turkmenistan is not the only country to consider changing the months of the year at a single stroke. In 1793 the newly established French republic abandoned the Gregorian calendar in favour of a new, ‘rational’ calendar. It lasted thirteen years, until abolished by Napoleon in 1806.
Each season was divided into three months, and the name of the months in each season shared a common word ending.
Printemps (spring)
Germinal seeds sprouting
Floréal flowering
Prairial meadow
Eté (summer)
Messidor harvest
Thermidor heat
Fructidor fruit
Automne (autumn)
Vendémiaire vintage
Brumaire fog
Frimaire sleet
Nivôse snow
Pluviôse rain
Ventôse winds
These months quickly became nicknamed by the British as Showery, Flowery, Bowery, Wheaty, Heaty, Sweety, Slippy, Nippy, Drippy, Freezy, Wheezy and Sneezy.
Stages of the Hawaiian moon
The Hawaiians in earlier times named each of the thirty nights of a lunar month. The first night was called hilo, to twist, because the moon was like a twisted thread. The second was hoaka, a crescent. The third was ku-kahi, the day of a very low tide. The subsequent days described rough seas, light after moonset or days suitable for fishing with a torch. On the eleventh night, huna, the sharp points of the crescent were lost. On the twelfth, mohalu, the moon began to round. This was a favoured night for planting flowers; it was believed they would be round too. The thirteenth night was hua, the egg; the fourteenth, akua, the night of the perfectly rounded moon. On the sixteenth night, mahea-lani, the moon began to wane. More named days of rough seas followed until the twenty-ninth night, mauli, meaning that the last of the moon was visible. Muku, the thirtieth night, literally meant ‘cut off’ as the moon had disappeared.
A time for celebration
njepi (Balinese, Indonesia) a national holiday during which everyone is silent
On reflection
Process of elimination
Not just words, but languages themselves change endlessly, some to the point where they go out of use altogether (on average one language a fortnight). Out of the (roughly speaking) 6,800 languages that comprise the global range, some recent victims have included Catawba (Massachusetts), Eyak (Alaska) and Livonian (Latvia). Many are from the jungles of Papua New Guinea, which still has more languages than any other country.
Others that run an imminent risk of extinction are: Abkhaz (Turkey/Georgia); Aleut (Alaska); Archi (Daghestan); British Romany; Apurina/Monde/Purubora/Mekens/ Ayuru/Xipaya (Brazil); Brapu (Papua New Guinea); Southern Chaco/Chorote/Nivacle/Kadiweu (South America); Diyari (South Australia); Eastern Penan (Sarawak and Brunei); Gamilaraay (New South Wales); Goemai (Nigeria); Guruntum (Nigeria); Iquito (Peru); Jawoyn (Southern Arnhem Land); Jiwarli/Thalanji (Western Australia); Khumi Chin (Western Myanmar); Sandaun (Papua New Guinea); Sasak (Eastern Indonesia); Lakota (The Plains, America); Maku (East Timor); Ngamini (South Australia); Rongga (Flores, Indonesia); Uspanteko and Sakapulteko (Guatamala); Takana and Reyesano (Bolivia); Tofa (Siberia); Tundra Nenets (Arctic Russia and Northwestern Siberia); Uranina (Peru); Vedda (Sri Lanka); Vures (Vanuatu).
What’s in a Name?
ming bu zheng; yan bu shun
(Chinese)
if the name is not right, the words cannot be appropriate
Angry bumblebees
Most first names, if not derived from myth, place, flower or surnames, have a specific meaning. Patrick, for example, means noble, from the Latin patricius. Naomi means ‘pleasant’ in Hebrew, while the Irish Gaelic Kevin literally means ‘comely birth’. More unusual meanings of names from around the world include the following (m stands for a male name; f for female):
Astell (m)
sacred cauldron of the gods (Manx)
Delisha (f)
happy and makes others happy (Arabic)
Ebru (f)
eyebrow (Turkish)
Farooq (m)
he who distinguishes truth from falsehood (Arabic)
Fenella (f)
fair shoulder (Manx)
Lama (f)
with dark lips (Arabic)
Matilda (f)
strength in battle (German)
Xicohtencatl (m)
angry bumblebee (Nahuatl, Mexico)
Xiao-Xiao (f)
morning sorrow (Chinese)
Eyes like hard porridge
A number of particularly evocative names are to be found in different parts of Africa. Sometimes they refer to pregnancy or birth:
U-Zenzo (m)
things happened in the womb (Ndebele, Southern Africa)
Anindo (m)
mother slept a lot during pregnancy (Luo, Kenya)
Arogo (m)
mother nagged a lot during pregnancy (Luo, Kenya)
Ige (f)
born feet first (Yoruba, Nigeria)
Amadi (m)
seemed destined to die at birth (Yoruba, Nigeria)
Haoniyao (m)
born at the time of a quarrel (Swahili)
… to prophecy or destiny:
Amachi (f)
who knows what God has brought us through this child (Ibo, Nigeria)
U-Linda (f)
mind the village until the father’s return (Ndebele, Southern Africa)
Nnamdi (m)
my father is alive (when thought to be a reincarnation of his grandfather) (Ibo, Nigeria)
Sankofa (f)