LIMBAWA ... Chapter 1.5

..... LOGI

Above right you can see the numbers 1 -> 11 displayed. Notice that the forms of 7 and 9 have been simplified (also 1 and 6 in a minor way).

In the bottom right you can see 7 interesting symbols. These are used to extend the range of the LIMBAWA number system (remember the basic system only covers 1-> 1727). Their meanings are given in the table below.

elephant	huŋgu
rhino	nàin
water buffalo	wúa
circle	omba
hare	yanfa
beetle	mulu
bacterium, bug	ʔiwetu

To give you an idea of how they are used, I have given you a very big number below.

O.K. this number has a ridiculous dynamic range. But this is for demonstration purposes only: if you can handle this number you can handle any number. Remember the number is in base 12.

This monster would be pronounced aja huŋgu uvaila nàin ezaitauba wúa idauja omba idaizaupa yanfa elaibau mulu idaidauka ʔiwetu elaivau dó

Now the 7 "placeholders" are not really thought of as real numbers, they are markers only. The LIMBAWA community has a very strong feeling that there are only 1727 proper numbers. You never see (the LIMBAWA equivalent of) "a thousand" or "a million". Rather you would hear "ONE thousand exactly", or "ONE thousand approximately". (Actually I tell a lie, there are a number of sayings, where you can hear "ONE thousand" etc. etc.)

When first introduced to this system, many people think that the LIMBAWA culture must be untenable, however strangely enough the LIMBAWA culture has lasted many thousands of year, despite the obvious confusion that must arise when they attempt to count elephants.

One further point ...

If you wanted to express a number represented by digits 2->4 from the LHS of the monster, you would say aufaidaula nàin .... the same way as we have in the Western European tradition. However if you wanted to express a number represented digits 6 ->8 from the RHS of the monster, you would say yanfa elaibau .... not the way we do it. This is like saying "milli 630" instead of "630 micro".

Ah that is another thing ... the units used either come at the end (or they can replace omba (which means "unit" as well as "circle", by the way)).

..... SAINO

saino = day

The LIMBAWA day begins at sunrise. 6 o'clock in the morning is called cuaju

The time of day is counted from cuaju. 24 hours is considered one unit. 8 o'clock in the morning would be called ajai (normally just called ajai, but cúa ajai or ajai yanfa might also be heard sometimes).

6 o'clock in the morning	cuaju
8 o'clock in the morning	ajai
10 o'clock in the morning	uvai
midday	aibai
2 o'clock in the afternoon	agai
4 o'clock in the afternoon	idai
6 o'clock in the evening	ulai
8 o'clock in the evening	icai
10 o'clock at night	ezai
midnight	okai
2 o'clock in the morning	apai
4 o'clock in the morning	atai

Ten past 4 o'clock in the afternoon would be called idaijau

Twenty past 4 would be idaivau

Half past 4 would be idaibau

...

Ten to 6 would be idaitau

All these names have the element idai in common, hence the period from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock is called idaia (the plural of idai). This is exactly the same as us calling the period from 1960 -> 1969, "the sixties".

The perion from 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock in the morning is called cuajua. This is a back formation. People noticed that the two hour period after the point in time ajai was called ajaia(etc. etc.) and so felt that the two hour period after the point in time cuaju should be called cuajua. By the way, all points of time between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. MUST have an initial cuaju. For example "ten past six in the morning" would be cuaju ajau, "twenty past six" would be cuaju avau and so on.

If something happened in the period from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock, it would be said to have happened idaia.pi

Usually you talk about points of time rather than periods of time. If you arrange to meet somebody at 2 o'clock morning, you would meet them apaiʔe.

But we refer to periods of time occasionally. If some action continued for 20 minutes, it will have continued nàn uvau, for 2 hours : nàn ajai (nàn means "a long time")

In English we divide the day up into hours, minutes and seconds. In LIMBAWA they only have the yanfa. The yanfa is equivalent to 5 seconds. We would translate "moment" as in "just a moment" as yanfa also.

The Calendar

The LIMBAWA calendar is interesting. Definitely interesting. A 73 day period is called a dói. 5 x 73 => 365.

The phases of the moon are totally ignored in the LIMBAWA system of keeping count of time.

The first day of the dói is nelauja followed by hija, then auja lozoja celaija and then aiva etc. etc. all the way unto kiʔoka.

The days to the right are workdays (saipito )while the days to the left are days off work (saifuje). Each month has a special festival (hinta) associated with it. These festivals are held in the three period lozoga, celaiga, helauga. The five "months" are named after the 5 planets that are visible to the naked eye. The 5 big festivals that occur every year are also so named.

mercury	ʔoli	Month 1	doiʔoli	Xmas... on 21,22,23 Dec	hinʔoli
venus	pwè	Month 2	doipwe	festival on 4,5,6 Mar	himpwe
mars	gú	Month 3	doigu	festival on 16,17,18 May	hiŋgu
jupiter	gamazu	Month 4	doigamazu	festival on 28,29,30 July	hiŋgamazu
saturn	yika	Month 5	doiyika	festival on 9,10,11 Oct	hinyika

hinʔoli ... This is the most important festival of the year. It celebrates the starting of a fresh year. It celebrates the stop of the sun getting weaker. It is centred on the family and friends that you are living amongst. Even though eating and drinking are involved in all the five festivals, this festival has the most looked-forward-to feasts.

himpwe ... People gather at various regional centres to compete and spectate in various music and poetry competitions. These "flying lantern things" are released.

hiŋgu ... It is usual to get together with old friends around this time and many parties are held. Friends that live some distance away are given special consideration. Often journeys are undertaken to meet up with old acquainances. Also there is a big exchange of letters at this time. The most important happenings of the last year are stated in these letters along with hopes and plans for the coming year.

hiŋgamazu ... This festival is all about outdoor competitions and sporting events. It is a little like a cross between the Olympics games and the highland games. People gather at various regional centres to compete and spectate in various team and individual competitions. However care is taken that no regional centre becomes too popular and people are discouraged from competing at centres other than their local one.

hinyika ... Family that live some distance away are given special consideration. Often journeys are undertaken for family visits and ancestors ashboxes are visited if convenient. This is the second most important festival of the year. People often take extra time off work to travel, or to entertain guests. Fireworks are let of for a 2 hour period on the night of helauga. This is one of the few occasions where fireworks are allowed.

By the way, when a year changes, it doesn't change between months, it changes between lozoga and celaiga.

Every 4 years an extra day is added to the year. The doiʔoli gets a helauca.