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Numbers, Dates, & Time

We use numbers everywhere for common tasks such as giving directions, determining quantities, and navigating our day. In Hîsyêô even the concept of having multiple of something is considered apart of the same category of numbers. This category is called determiners and some determiners are quantities and others are concepts related to numbers.

Cardinal Numbers​

To express your internet usage or uber cost, we need quantifiers that will tell us exactly how many of something we have. The table below provides the numbers that you'll need to count all the way up to a trillion.

NumberHîsyêô
0

 xûnyu

1

 kut

2

 dûî

3

 niswî

4

 nonkû

5

 tîû

6

 toû

7

 xêtî

8

 tukwos

9

 eson

10

 dus

11

 ônsu

12

 bole

13

 telô

14

 ziyôn

15

 kînsê

16

 ses

17

 dus  xêtî

18

 dus  tukwos

19

 dus  eson

20

 dûî  dus

21

 dûî  dus  kut

22

 dûî  dus  dûî

23

 dûî  dus  niswî

24

 dûî  dus  nonkû

25

 dûî  dus  tîû

26

 dûî  dus  toû

27

 dûî  dus  xêtî

28

 dûî  dus  tukwos

29

 dûî  dus  eson

30

 niswî  dus

31

 niswî  dus  kut

32

 niswî  dus  dûî

33

 niswî  dus  niswî

34

 niswî  dus  nonkû

35

 niswî  dus  tîû

36

 niswî  dus  toû

37

 niswî  dus  xêtî

38

 niswî  dus  tukwos

39

 niswî  dus  eson

40

 nonkû  dus

50

 tîû  dus

60

 toû  dus

70

 xêtî  dus

80

 tukwos  dus

90

 eson  dus

100

 fîyên

101

 fîyên  kut

234

 dûî  fîyên  niswî  dus  nonkû

1000

 elfû  kut

1,000,000

 elfû  dûî

1,999

 elfû  kut, eson  fîyên  eson  dus  eson

1,234,567

 elfû  dûî,  dûî  fîyên  niswî  dus  nonkû  elfû  kut,  tîû  fîyên  toû  dus  xêtî

Tens, Thousands, Millions​

As you can see above, you use elfû with the number directly following it representing how many groups of 3 places. This is the same amount as we put commas or periods in our number representations.

Quantifying Things​

If you supply a number on the left-hand side of any noun phrase (in the determiner position), it effects whether the noun is seen as plural or singular. These are called Cardinal Numbers. You can supply any amount of number words here and they follow the rules shown above to generate their value or amount.

 dûî  fîyên  niswî  hôfezî "two hundred and three cows"

If you specify only the number 1 (kut), it acts like the indefinite article ("a/an" in English) but this is often times omitted due to context being sufficient.

 kut  ênbukun "one burp" or "a burp"

Plurality Optional But Possible

The language allows you to omit any sense of plurality. Words do not change when plural and they can represent plural or singular things. This frees you from having to worry about how to properly pluralize words or which words have to match the plurality of the head word. In Hîsyêô there is no need for any of that and typically you will setup some context of what a particular object is referring to and then you just use the head noun to refer back to that prior definition including the plurality established.

Besides kut for singular, these are the words used for plurality

 bûzôk lack ➖☹️

 mênûs fewer/less ➖➖

 yoûtî some/few ➖

 zôtêstô sufficient/enough 🙂

 êto many/much ➕

 eswen more ➕➕

 odigon excess ➕☹️

Which Place?​

If you supply a number on the right-hand side of any noun phrase (in the modifier position), it indicates which specific value in a list of values, also known as the placement. These are called Ordinal Numbers.

EnglishLatinAbugidaSyllabary
Zeroth

 xûnyu

 ɋ̃ʄɀʃ

 xuNyr

First

 kut

 ɔ̆ʃ

 krT

Second

 dûî

 ʌʄɽɟ

 dui

Twelfth

 bole

 ʋʓɿ

 blq

Eighteenth

 dus  tukwos

 ʌ́ʃ  c̑ʃʒ́

 drS  trKwS

Twentieth

 dûî  dus

 ʌʄɽɟ  ʌ́ʃ

 dui  drS

Any series of numbers can be an ordinal as long as they appear on the right-hand side of a noun phrase.

 niwos  niswî  xe  hoî  xîmol "third house on the left"

As you'll see in the next section, this ordinal-on-the-right usage how we communicate dates and time as well.

Telling people on what day, week or month something has or will occur is an extremely important tool in any language. Without a calendar system, how can we schedule a doctor's appointment, go out on a date, or find out when our favorite show returns?

Days of the Week​

The Hîsyêô week days are named after the most prevalent color of the planets of our solar system (as seen with true color photography). The start of the week was chosen as Monday to coincide with the near majority of the world agreement on this and it allows Saturday and Sunday to be the "Weekend" (kônyêc wêxôn).

PlanetTrue Color PhotoEnglishHîsyêôAbugidaSyllabary
MercuryMercury in true color (by MESSENGER in 2008) - WikipediaMonday

 lono  dûsul

 ʓƨ  ʌʄɐ͊ʃ

 ln  dusrL

VenusTrue colour image of Venus, as captured by MESSENGER - WikipediaTuesday

 lono  mîhûon

 ʓƨ  ƶɟɂʄɽ̃

 ln  mihuaN

EarthThe Blue Marble, Apollo 17, December 1972Wednesday

 lono  zôî

 ʓƨ  ⱴıɽɟ

 ln  zoi

MarsMars, as captured by the Hope orbiterThursday

 lono  cinôbu

 ʓƨ  ꞇȷƨıʋʃ

 ln  cjnobr

JupiterThis true-color simulated view of Jupiter is composed of 4 images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 7, 2000 - WikipediaFriday

 lono  zîngu

 ʓƨ  ⱴ̃ɟꜿʃ

 ln  ziNgr

SaturnOriginal Caption Released with Image: NASA's Voyager 2 took this 'true color' photograph of Saturn on July 21, 1981, when the spacecraft was 33.9 million kilometers (21 million miles) from the planet. - WikipediaSaturday

 lono  unbol

 ʓƨ  ɽ̃ʃʋ͊

 ln  rNbL

UranusThis picture of Uranus in true color was compiled from images returned Jan. 17, 1986, by the narrow-angle camera of Voyager 2. - WikipediaSunday

 lono  xolxîlî

 ʓƨ  ɋ͊ɋɟʓɟ

 ln  xLxili

In order to indicate a specific day, use one of the demonstrative pronouns (ôfo, ulyô, onô). Otherwise, a weekday (or really any use of lono) is either one or many unspecified days. You can use a day as a condition in a hoî prepositional phrase:

 hoî  xokôn  lono  xolxîlî,  û  nûs  li  sî  nô  bi  xobêk  mût  motûo  sênzô

"Every Sunday, we used to go to grandpa's"

Asking what day of the week it is can be done by asking what color of day:

 lono  ôfo  li  longi  zik. "What day is today?"

Relative Days

There's a few relative terms that are also highly utilized in everyday speech:

 dûî  lono  ôhêl "2 days ago"

 lono  xe  ilik  lono  xobêk "day before yesterday"

 lono  xobêk "yesterday"

 lono  ôfo "today"

 lono  uklo "tomorrow"

 lono  xe  cihôû  lono  uklo "day after tomorrow"

 dûî  lono  mîle "2 days hence"

 lono in  wêloi  yê  wêxôn "weekday"

 kônyêc  wêxôn "weekend"

Months of the Year​

The months of the year do not use such a system, instead they rely on the ordinal numbers that were shown above.

MonthHîsyêôAbugidaSyllabary
January

 wuto  kut

 ʒʃc  ɔ̆ʃ

 wrt  krT

February

 wuto  dûî

 ʒʃc  ʌʄɽɟ

 wrt  dui

March

 wuto  niswî

 ʒʃc  ƨ́ȷʒɟ

 wrt  njSwi

April

 wuto  nonkû

 ʒʃc  ƨ̃ɔʄ

 wrt  nNku

May

 wuto  tîû

 ʒʃc  cɟɽʄ

 wrt  tiu

June

 wuto  toû

 ʒʃc  cɽʄ

 wrt  tAu

July

 wuto  xêtî

 ʒʃc  ɋʇcɟ

 wrt  xeti

August

 wuto  tukwos

 ʒʃc  c̑ʃʒ́

 wrt  trKwS

September

 wuto  eson

 ʒʃc  ɽɿɐ̃

 wrt  qsN

October

 wuto  dus

 ʒʃc  ʌ́ʃ

 wrt  drS

November

 wuto  ônsu

 ʒʃc  ɽ̃ıɐʃ

 wrt  oNsr

December

 wuto  bole

 ʒʃc  ʋʓɿ

 wrt  blq

To remember which months have 31, 30, and 28 days, try using this children's rhyme:

Caution

WIP Translation

 fuî  niswî  dus  lono  û  wuto  eson,

 wuto  nonkû,  wuto  toû,  ûn  wuto  ônsu,

 û  môî  dîzel  fuî  niswî  dus  kut,

 û  yôk  wuto  dûî  xe  lon  dûî  dus  tukwos  lono,

 lêkin  hoî  ûsên  zoston  xe  dî  hoî  xokôn  ûsên  nonkû,

 û  wuto  dûî  fuî  eswen  kut  lono

Wikipedia

Seasons​

The seasons were chosen to reflect what unique characteristic each season has. We've also got ways to describe the seasons in equatorial regions too.

SeasonHîsyêôAbugidaSyllabary
Spring

 yogô  ûsên  nîôk

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  ƨɟɽ̑ı

 ygo  useN  nioK

Summer

 yogô  ûsên  tût

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  c̆ʄ

 ygo  useN  tuT

Autumn/Fall

 yogô  ûsên  kon  kudûdo

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  ɔ̃  ɔʃʌʄʌ

 ygo  useN  kN  krdud

Winter

 yogô  ûsên  cunyû

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  ꞇ̃ʃɀʄ

 ygo  useN  crNyu

Wet

 yogô  ûsên  nubuso

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  ƨʃʋʃɐ

 ygo  useN  nrbrs

Dry

 yogô  ûsên  ûlgûkîn

 ɀꜿı  ɽʄɐ̃ʇ  ɽ͊ʄꜿʄɔ̃ɟ

 ygo  useN  uLgukiN

To say something is "in the summer" or similar, supply one of these as the object of a hoî preposition.

Exact Dates​

Specifying an exact date involves using ordinals for the day, the week day terms, and ordinals for the months. When specifying what date a weekday has, a relative clause is used to treat the following phrase as an appositive.

 lono  ôfo  li  lono  kut  yê  wuto  niswî. "Today is the March 1st"

 lono  kon  lôzîc  nîo  li  lono  mîhûon  xe  li  lono  ziyôn  yê  wuto  tîû. "His birthday is Tuesday, May 14th"

The use of yê is optional within a full date phrase.

Saying Years​

Years are said like two segments of 2 numbers. For example, 1931 is "19" and "31"; 384 is "3" and "84". If the most significant segment is under 10, you can use xûnyu preceding the final year digit. If you are referring to a recent date, you can often just mention the final segment.

 dus  eson  xêtî  dus  xêtî 1977

 niswî  xûnyu  niswî 303

To say dates in "BC" or "BCE", use the phrase yê ilik zizime sodolun.

 kôson  sî  sinsî Lômo  hoî  xêtî  tîû  dus  niswî  yê  ilik  zizime  sodolun. Rome was built in 753 BCE.

When you are setting up a date or appointment, often times you want to provide which weekday in addition to the date.

 noyo  hoî  lono  zîngu  xe  li  lono  kînsê  yê  wuto  niswî,  li  cok  mût  niwos. Friday, the 15th of March, I am departing for home.

Similar to English, the appositive "the 15th of March" must be closed by a comma to return to the main sentence clause for the remaining consituents.

Conversation Practice
Malina

 noî Lovoiyel,  nîmû  fuî  mîkdol  zik  yê  siskin.

Raphael, how many siblings do you have?
Lovoiyel

 noyo  fuî  dûî  siskin  moskûl  ûn  kut  siskin  wohî.

I have two brothers and one sister.
Malina

 nîo  li  nokdo  zik.

How old are they?
Lovoiyel

 siskin  wohî  noyo Somonvo  li  ônsu  ûsên .

My sister Samantha is 11 years old.

 li  ziyôn  ûsên  ûn  dûî  dus  kut  ûsên  yê  nokdo  û  siskin  moskûl  noyo.

My brother's ages are 14 and 21.
Malina

 ûn  lôzîc  nîmû  hoî  lono  zik?

And when is your birthday?
Lovoiyel

 lono  dûî  dus  eson  yê  wuto  toû.

June 29th

Talk The Clock​

If you know how to count to 12, you can talk about hours; if you know how to count to 60, then you can talk about minutes and seconds.

To ask the time, you use the copula with a null subject. The complement uses the interrogative pronoun, so there is no need for a sentence ender.

 ni  li  wokût  zik. "What time is it?"

 ni  li  suhot  zik. "What hour is it?"

Often times, ni is omitted because it is often easy to decipher from context who or what the subject is. Pay attention to what is being described in either the current sentence or what the subject was from preceding sentences. In some cases, this ends up being "it" or "there" in English. In other cases, it ends up being the prior sentence's subject. Here's some examples of how to respond to these questions:

 li  kut "It is one"

 li  suhot  kut "It is one o'clock"

 li  suhot  dus "It is ten o'clock"

 li  suhot  bole "It is twelve o'clock"

 li  lono  mutyu "It is noon"

 li  bitûn  mutyu "It is midnight"

Hîsyêô uses the 12-hour clock to reduce the need for multiple word ordinals to create times like "23:00". Often times, you can deduce which half of the day from context. If you need to use the equivalent of "a.m." or "p.m":

 suhot  eson  yê  ilik  lono  mutyu "9 o'clock before noon"

 suhot  tîû  yê  cihôû  lono  mutyu "9 o'clock after noon"

For some specific times with importance, here's how to translate:

 wokût  kon  socok  lono "morning time"

 wokût  yê  côûfon  kut "breakfast time"

 wokût  yê  côûfon  mutyu "lunch time"

 wokût  yê  côûfon  fêlcîn "dinner time"

 wokût  yê  kûon  nêôs "dawn"

 wokût  yê  kûon  kônyêc "dusk"

 wokût  kon  conzodo "bedtime"

Now you can say many things about the time of day or describe when things occur. In order to give any sentence a time that it occurred, we use the hoî preposition.

 côûfon  kut  li  kônyêc  hoî  tukwos "Breakfast is ending at 8"

Durations​

If you need to say an amount of time rather than a point in time, you follow the normal approach for creating plurality: provide the number words in the determiner slot (left side of the head word).

 nîmû  fuî  niswî  suhot "You have three hours"

 tûu  ulyô  buswen  kut  suhot "That task needs an hour"

Most of the time when we are referring to time, we think of it as a specific location on the flow of time (hence why it shares the same preposition particle as we use for denoting the location of an action). When you need to refer to a duration/length of time we use a different particle meant for distances and durations.

 nûs  tûu  sî  lon  nonkû  suhot "We did that for four hours"

Exact Times​

If you need to talk about specific times within an hour, there is a base modifier content word that does double duty as a time unit for minutes.

 ke  li  gô  bi  tôlkî  lon  tîû  êfun "It will only be 5 minutes"

Exact Date & Time​

You can combine everything together to specify both date and time. When doing so, you can either use yê to connect the parts or you can elide (omit) this particle. Start with the most significant unit and work your way up to the least significant unit. You can use yê and yê for a more literal translation.

 nûs  kûu  li  nô  mût  comen  fîmôsyôs  hoî  êfun  kînsê  suhot  xêtî  wuto  nonkû  ûsên  dûî  elfû  ûn  dûî  dus  tîû. "Let's head to the park at 15 minutes after 7 o'clock, March 14th, 2025"

 nûs  kûu  li  nô  mût  comen  fîmôsyôs  hoî  kînsê  êfun  cihôû  suhot  xêtî  wuto  nonkû  ûsên  dûî  elfû  ûn  dûî  dus  tîû. "Let's head to the park at 15 minutes after 7 o'clock, March 14th, 2025"

Time Prepositions​

HîsyêôEnglishDescription
hoîat/in/on/wheneverat a point in time specified
sûnsincestarting at a point in time specified
mûtuntilending at a point in time specified
ilikbeforepreceding a point in time specified
ilik yôkwhen/oncenot preceding a point in time specified
cihôûaftersucceeding a point in time specified
cihôû yôkbynot succeeding a point in time specified
lonforduration specified

Measurements​

To indicate a measurement of something, it helps to have a way to describe a "unit" of measurement. There is no exact word for this in Hîsyêô, although cêô and yogô have their uses which we'll discuss below. The word "unit" means "singular entity" which suggests that we should reach for the number one (kut). To help add some clarity, let's use the agentive verb noun particle to create a meaning of "one-er" or something whose state is primarily about oneness.

 hondon  li  ônî  kut  sokofû  yê  dî  folo  môî  et  yê  zomî. "The family is the most basic unit of society."

 kûngîyo  ondo  xe  li  êo  funlît  ôlê  cizî  mût  dûî  yodo  niswî  ônî  kut. "The company plans to split into two or three units."

Other than the time words, the rest of the measurement units are done by just referring to what kind of measurement the unit is for.

Temperature​

 xîmu  dî  hoî  kut  fîyên  cêô  yê  tût. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius."

Since "Celcius" and "Fahrenheit" are names, you can use these if needed. The proper spellings would be:

Mass/Volume/Weight​

A unit of mass is 1 gram. Add cênbô for kilograms or cûtî for milligrams.

It is widely recommended that adults consume 15-35 grams of fiber daily, although many Americans fall short.

—Casey Seiden, Verywell Health, 3 May 2024

 bi  nulto  bêsnêhot  fos  umo  dês  xonluk  mokon  zôhûn  doî  gitno  dus  tîû  ûn  niswî  dus  tîû  ônî  kut  yê  kûsowî  hoî  xokôn  lono  lêkin  mîkdol  yê  êto  umo Umelikin  li  bûzôk  onô

Length/Width/Height​

A unit of length is 1 meter. cênbô for kilometers or cûtî for millimeters.

In computer simulations, their average charge was strong enough to lift 100 pollen grains at least six millimeters in less than a second.

—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024

 hôn  tûek  yê  wêîlun  û  cingî  mêtlîôs  fuî  zôtêstô  gîôn  til  xe  êo  nô  bi mulô  ôlê  fîyên  folo  zênsî  înbolî  lon  toû  ônî  kut  cûtî  yê  kîldo  hoî  mênûs  en  kut  mîoû.