Notions of Filipino Time on Know History Know Self
Summary
TLDRIn 'No History No Self,' Professor Brandon explores the ancient Filipinos' unique and cyclical concept of time, tied to natural phenomena and agriculture, long before the Spanish colonization. Unlike today's linear time, they divided time into units akin to hours and weeks, based on the sun and moon's positions. Their months and years were determined by lunar cycles and harvest seasons, differing from the fixed dates of the Gregorian calendar. The script challenges the modern notion of 'Filipino time' as being late, revealing a more complex and poetic way of reckoning time that was displaced by Spanish influence.
Takeaways
- 🕰️ The term 'Filipino time' once had a different meaning, rooted in the pre-Hispanic era's culturally specific ways of reckoning time.
- 🌾 Filipinos before the 1500s were primarily agricultural, which influenced their cyclical and nature-based understanding of time, linked to the seasons, stars, sun, and moon.
- 🌞 Ancient Filipinos did not divide time into minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years as we do today, but they had their own methods of measuring time based on the sun's position.
- 📅 Muslim Filipinos in the southwest had a different system, starting in the 1300s, which was based on Islamic notions of time, distinct from the rest of the pre-Hispanic Filipinos.
- 🌕 The concept of weeks and months existed in the pre-Hispanic era, with 'month-like' units based on the lunar calendar, providing an accurate sense of time passage similar to a 30-day period.
- 📊 An ancient Filipino year was not a fixed date like our current calendar years; it was determined by harvest seasons and the lunar calendar, making it variable.
- 🌙 The lunar calendar's influence meant that holidays and significant dates varied from year to year, similar to how Ramadan's start date changes annually.
- 📚 Most Filipino words for time are derived from Spanish, indicating the Spanish influence on the Filipino concept of time after colonization.
- 🔍 Pre-Hispanic Filipinos had similar concepts of time measurement as the Spanish, which facilitated the translation and adaptation of time units during the Spanish era.
- 🎨 The older Filipino notions of time were inventive, useful, and even scientific, and in many ways, more elaborate and poetic than the Spanish system that replaced it.
- 🗣️ The modern perception of 'Filipino time' as being late or behind schedule is a misinterpretation of a once complex and sophisticated system of time reckoning.
Q & A
What is the term 'Filipino time' commonly associated with in modern context?
-In modern context, 'Filipino time' is commonly associated with being late or the casual attitude towards punctuality.
How did the ancient Filipinos' concept of time differ from the current understanding?
-Ancient Filipinos had a cyclical view of time, tied to natural phenomena like the seasons, stars, sun, and moon, rather than the linear, minute-to-hour breakdown we use today.
What was unique about the timekeeping methods of pre-Hispanic Filipinos?
-Pre-Hispanic Filipinos used the position of the sun and moon to determine time, with specific terms for different points in the day or night, similar to how a sundial works.
How did Muslim Filipinos in the southwest reckon time during the 1300s?
-Muslim Filipinos in the southwest began reckoning time according to Islamic notions as early as the 1300s, which is different from the timekeeping methods of other pre-Hispanic Filipinos.
What were the basic units of time for ancient Filipinos?
-The basic units of time for ancient Filipinos were determined by the position of the sun and were similar to our concept of hours, but not as neatly defined.
How did prehispanic Filipinos measure weeks and months?
-Prehispanic Filipinos had notions of weeks, which were several days, and months, which were based on the lunar calendar, providing an accurate sense of the passage of time similar to a 30-day period.
What was the basis for the ancient Filipino year?
-An ancient Filipino year was based on 12 lunar months, but these years were not fixed calendric years like ours; they were determined by harvest seasons which varied according to the lunar calendar and other factors.
How do the lunar-based holidays of Muslim Filipinos compare to the fixed dates of the Gregorian calendar?
-Lunar-based holidays vary from year to year, unlike the fixed dates of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the start date of Ramadan changes each year based on the lunar calendar.
What is the origin of most Filipino words for time?
-Most Filipino words for time come from Spanish, such as 'beta' for date, 'huno' for months, and 'mirus' for days, which are localizations of Spanish terms.
Did the Spanish imposition of their time concepts completely replace the prehispanic Filipino notions of time?
-No, the Spanish did not completely replace prehispanic Filipino notions of time. The prehispanic Filipinos had similar concepts of hours, days, months, and years, which facilitated the translation and adaptation of Spanish time concepts.
How can the prehispanic Filipino notions of time be described in comparison to the Spanish ones?
-Prehispanic Filipino notions of time were no less inventive, useful, and even scientific than the Spanish ones. They were also more elaborate and poetic, reflecting a deep connection with the natural world.
Outlines
🕰️ Filipino Time: A Historical Perspective
This paragraph delves into the historical concept of timekeeping among Filipinos before the Spanish colonization. It highlights that ancient Filipinos had a complex and culturally specific way of reckoning time, which was tied to the agricultural cycles, celestial movements, and observable natural phenomena. The paragraph explains that time was viewed as cyclical and not linear, with units of time determined by the sun and moon positions. It also mentions that the Muslim people in the southwest had an early Islamic timekeeping system. The paragraph emphasizes the contrast between the prehispanic Filipino timekeeping and the Spanish-influenced system that followed, suggesting that the prehispanic system was just as inventive and useful as the one that replaced it.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Filipino Time
💡Pre-Hispanic
💡Agricultural People
💡Cyclical Time
💡Lunar Calendar
💡Islamic Notions
💡Harvest Seasons
💡Spanish Influence
💡Translation
💡Inventive and Useful
💡Poetic
Highlights
The term 'Filipino time' once had a different meaning, rooted in pre-colonial cultural practices.
Filipinos before the 1500s had complex, culturally specific ways of reckoning time, now largely forgotten.
Ancient Filipinos' time concepts were tied to natural cycles and observable phenomena like seasons, stars, and the moon.
Unlike modern timekeeping, ancient Filipinos did not segment time into minutes, hours, days, etc., in the same manner.
Muslim Filipinos in the southwest began using Islamic timekeeping notions as early as the 1300s.
Time for ancient Filipinos was cyclical and endlessly repeating, with a different concept of past, present, and future.
Basic units of time were determined by the sun's position, similar to how sundials work today.
Prehispanic Filipinos had notions of weeks and months, based on lunar cycles.
Ancient Filipino 'months' were based on lunar calendars, making them variable but accurate for tracking time.
Ancient Filipino 'years' were not fixed like today's calendar years, but were determined by harvest seasons.
Filipino holidays based on the lunar calendar, like Ramadan, vary each year, illustrating the concept of variable timekeeping.
Most Filipino time-related words come from Spanish, indicating the influence of colonization on timekeeping.
Prehispanic Filipinos had similar concepts of hours, days, months, and years, facilitating the adoption of Spanish timekeeping.
Filipino notions of time were as inventive, useful, and scientific as those of the Spanish colonizers.
Ancient Filipino timekeeping was more elaborate and poetic compared to the colonizers' system.
The accusation of being on 'Filipino time' can be reframed as a reflection of the complexity of prehispanic timekeeping practices.
Transcripts
it's time for no history no self with
Professor Brandon
[Music]
Riley when you hear the term Filipino
time what comes to your mind being late
to something right terrible especially
if you're the one who is late to the
party yet there was once something that
in fact could be called Filipino time
that was very different from what we
mean when we say it today Filipinos
before Spain in fact had all sorts of
culturally specific complex ways of
Reckoning time that are now long
forgotten today on no history no self we
will attempt to recount something of
these ancient modes of thinking of
time first thing to note Filipinos
before the 1500s were fundamentally an
agricultural people so their Notions of
time were bound up with changes of the
seasons the movement of the Stars the
Sun and the Moon and to other signs in
the observable world that they could
discern
accordingly for ancient Filipinos time
was very different from our Notions
today um they didn't break things down
into for instance from smallest unit to
largest minutes hours days weeks months
and years in quite the same way the
exception to this was among Muslim
peoples in the southwest who as early as
the 1300s began to reckon time According
to Islamic
Notions for ancient Filipinos time was
cyclical endlessly repeating for them
there was something like a distant past
a past and a present which to us are of
course all very vague Notions of
Reckoning time time for them in its most
basic unit was divided into something
that was like but not exactly as neatly
defined as ours these hour like units
were determined by the position of the
sun and measured for instance by raising
one's arm against a sun and seeing the
way the sun fell against it much in the
way a su dial works today the position
of the sun or later on the moon
determined deted what hour it might have
been um and there were many specific
terms for these points in the day or
night following these hour- likee
divisions prehispanic Filipinos had
Notions of units like weeks which
several days um and even uh something of
months several weeks these month likee
units were based on the lunar calendar
the time between the appearance of one
moon to the next more variable than our
months today they nonetheless did
provide an accurate sense of the passage
of time similar to a 30-day period
period 12 of these lunar months added up
to something like an ancient Filipino
year but these years however were not
calendric years as we reckon them today
because our dates dates according to our
schemes are fixed and repeating for
example what was uh June 15th last year
will be June 15th this year and so on
and so on instead for ancient Filipinos
these months were determined by Harvest
Seasons which of course varied according
to lunar calendar and other factors to
imagine what this is like today simply
ask one of our Muslim sisters or
brothers because their holidays are
based on the lunar calendar and because
of this they vary from year to year one
example Ramadan last year began on June
17th this year it will begin on June 5th
next year on May 27th
thereabouts most of our words in
Filipino for time come from Spanish ones
date itself is beta like the months are
huno days are like mirus all of these
are localizations of Spanish terms this
fact may be used to conclude that the
Spanish simply impose their way of
thinking of time and we simply accepted
but what our prehispanic history shows
is that we had similar Concepts in place
long before Spain hours days months
years which made this act of translation
possible in the first place if for
instance we didn't call the time between
Harvest on then we couldn't think of a
thing called a year in other words older
philipin Notions of time were no less
inventive useful for the circumstances
and even scientific than the Spanish
ones that displaced them and in many
ways they were more elaborate and poetic
than that of the
colonizers so next time someone accuses
you of being on Filipino time explain to
them well it's because Filipino time is
so much more complicated
[Music]
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