Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Ts3>, {}, [IPA], -Tags-, and "Glosses".
This temporal scheme was adapted from those of TW3, Jul24, and Aug18A.
The names and relative values of the temporal units are shown in the following table:
| # | Base Unit | Unit Name | Description | |||
| ~0.6 | second | per | - | - | basic temporal unit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | - | - | - | - | "minute" | |
| 64 | - | - | - | - | "hour" | |
| 20 | - | - | zekoh | zekohu | "day" | |
| ~50 | zekoh | zekohu | - | - | "season" | |
| 8 | - | - | - | - | "year" | |
| 100 | - | - | - | - | "century" | |
The names of specific "hours of the daytime" and "hours of the night" are derived from the digits 0 through 9 by appending -sel selu and -tak taku, respectively.
The terms for "days of the season" are constructed from "day" + a compound number. There's an extra day in one season most years with a 2nd extra day every 5 years.
The names of the seasons are shown in the following table:
| # | Word | Name | |
| 0 | - | - | "spring" |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | - | "pre-summer" |
| 2 | - | - | "summer" |
| 3 | - | - | "pre-autumn" |
| 4 | - | - | "autumn" |
| 5 | - | - | "pre-winter" |
| 6 | - | - | "winter" |
| 7 | - | - | "pre-spring" |
The temporal units within each "hour" and the "years of the cycle" are identified using ordinal numbers plus the name of the temporal unit.
The following table lists some other temporal words:
| Gloss | Word | Tag | Name | Notes | |
| os | qosu | D0= | Non-anaphoric Definite | determiners used with time units | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| this | siz | sizu | D1= | Proximal | |
| that | ek | qeku | D3= | Anaphoric | |
| what | cat | catu | Q= | Interrogative | |
| some | in | qinu | Ind | Indefinite | |
| every | lah | lahu | Uni | Universal Quantifier | |
| daytime | seloh | selohu | some adverbial nouns | ||
| night | takoh | takohu | |||
| now | - | - | Prs | Present | tense particles |
| then | =i | qi | =Pst | Past | |
| =a | qa | =Fut | Future | ||
The tense markers are extraclausal and absolute (i.e. relative to the time of utterance). The tense doesn't need to be specified for every clause and sentence; it's assumed that the tense remains the same if not specified in some manner. The tense is initially implicitly present.
The syntax for temporal phrases and expressions is shown in the following table:
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Relation | iff expression |
| 2 | Determiner | |
| 3 | Quantity Word | displacement or # occasions |
| 4 | Time Noun | unit or phase |
| 5 | Tense or Expression | |
| 6 | Genitive | for composite phrases |
A single occasion phrase uses a temporal determiner other than D0 or Uni. No quantity word appears. Either a time unit noun or time phase noun is used. If the determiner is D1, the tense is present (implicitly); otherwise, the tense is past =Pst or future =Fut. The tense word Prs "now" is a special case.
| Phrase | Relation | Det. | Quant. | Noun | Tense | Gloss |
| siz zekoh | - | D1 | - | day | - | "today" |
| - | - | D1 | - | day#2 | - | "this Tuesday*" |
| eki/eka | - | D3 | - | - | =Pst/=Fut | "then" |
| ek takoh[i/a] | - | D3 | - | night | =Pst/=Fut | "that night" |
| cati/cata | - | Q | - | - | =Pst/=Fut | "when?" |
| - | - | Q | - | hour | =Pst/=Fut | "what hour?" |
| - | - | Ind | - | week | =Pst/=Fut | "some week" |
A multiple occasion phrase uses a temporal determiner other than D0 or D1; the determiner may also be null (non-specific). A quantity word (other than "0" or "1") appears denoting the number of occasions (unless the determiner is Uni). The noun is either a time unit, a time phase, "occasion" Occ, or "iteration" Itr. The tense may be past =Pst, future =Fut, or present (implicitly).
| Relation | Determiner | Quantity | Noun | Tense | Gloss |
| - | D3 | 4 | night | =Pst/=Fut | "on those 4 nights" |
| - | Ind | 5 | year | =Pst/=Fut | "in 5 different years" |
| - | Uni | - | day#2 | - | "every Tuesday*" (present) |
| - | Uni | - | day#2 | =Pst/=Fut | "every Tuesday*" (non-present) |
| - | - | 2 | occasion | =Pst/=Fut | "on 2 occasions" |
The determiner of a time displacement phrase is D0. A time unit noun is used. The quantity word denotes the number of units displaced in time ("0" isn't used). If no quantity word appears, the quantity is 1. The tense may be absolute past =Pst, absolute future =Fut, or a relative time expression.
| Phrase | Relation | Det. | Quant. | Noun | Tense | Gloss |
| os takohi | - | D0 | - | night | =Pst | last night |
| os keto zekoha | - | D0 | 2 | day | =Fut | "the day after tomorrow" |
A relative time expression begins with either "before" or "after". This is followed by a single occasion phrase.
| Relation | Determiner | Quantity | Noun | Tense | Gloss |
| after | D1 | - | day#2 | - | " from this Tuesday*" |
| before | D3 | - | year | =Pst/=Fut | " before that year" |
| qeki qosu xazanasu tonaqu qosu nesexituqi locezuqi tehoku. | |||||||
| eki os xazanas tonaq os nesexitqi locezqi tehok. | |||||||
| ['QE.GI OS XA.ZA'NAS TO'NAQ OS NE.SE'XITU.QI LO'JEZ.QI TE'HOKU] | |||||||
| e=ki | os | xazan-as | tonaq | os | nesex-it-qi | locez-qi | tehok |
| D3=Pst | D0 | heavy-Obv | man | D0 | old-Pat-SLoc | chair-SLoc | sit |
| "The heavy man sat on the old chair." | |||||||
| qeku tiqahuti qina qosu nekoqu cixotu. | |||||
| ek tiahti ina os nekoq cixot. | |||||
| [QEKU TI'AR.TI 'QI.NA OS NE'GOQ CI'XOTU] | |||||
| ek | tiah-ti | in=a | os | nekoq | cixot |
| D3 | fish-SAbs | Ind=Fut | D0 | cat | eat |
| "As for the fish, the cat will eat it at some point." | |||||
In a composite temporal phrase, the component phrase with the larger unit appears before one with the smaller unit and its noun takes the genitive case.
The enclitic contrafactual particle =Ctf follows any tense particle or time-when adverbial. It's used for contrary-to-fact conditions and conclusions and also for the complements of wishes.
page started: 2018.Aug.29 Wed
current date: 2018.Sep.04 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
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