Clocks around the world: how other languages tell time

Summary

This script explores the fascinating diversity of timekeeping around the world, from the peculiar Swahili Time near the equator to the ancient Egyptian sundials with temporal hours that change with the seasons. It delves into unique cultural practices like the Thai six-hour clock, the Japanese 30-hour day, and the Yorùbá reliance on natural cues for time. The narrative highlights the rich tapestry of human ingenuity in measuring time, challenging our conventional understanding of the day and revealing the beauty in these varied approaches.

Takeaways

• 🕒 The world uses various methods to tell time, influenced by culture and language.
• 🏰 In Zanzibar, the House of Wonders has a clock that deviates from standard time, reading 6 o'clock at noon and 3:00 at 9am.
• ⏰ Swahili Time is different from standard time; it adjusts the starting point of the day based on the reliable sunrise around the equator.
• 🌞 The concept of 'equal hours' versus 'temporal hours' shows that an hour's length can change with daylight duration, affecting timekeeping methods.
• 🕰️ Some medieval Italian clocks and Thai timekeeping still use a system of six-hour cycles within a 24-hour day.
• 🕌 The mechanical elephant clock in Dubai, inspired by al-Jazari, had to account for the variability in the length of hours throughout the year.
• 📚 The ancient Egyptian sundial divides daylight into twelve segments, demonstrating the concept of temporal hours that change with the seasons.
• 🏺 The word 'klepsydra' evolved from referring to a water clock to an hourglass, reflecting the evolution of timekeeping devices.
• 🇨🇳 In Chinese, different characters represent a full day-night cycle and daylight hours, with a historical system of hundredths and smaller units to measure time.
• 🗝️ The Nāhua people divided the day into four parts and the night into seven, with a different understanding of clockwise motion.
• 🎶 In northern India, the day is divided into eight pahar, influencing both ceremonial practices and everyday language.
• 🇯🇵 Japanese timekeeping has moved away from unequal hours to embrace the 12 and 24-hour clock, with creative extensions for late-night events.

Q & A

How many hours are typically in a day according to the standard timekeeping?

In standard timekeeping, there are 24 hours in a day.

What is the House of Wonders in Zanzibar, Tanzania?

The House of Wonders is a famous local landmark in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with a clock on top that operates on a unique time system.

Why does the clock at the House of Wonders in Zanzibar read 6 o'clock at noon?

The clock at the House of Wonders operates on a local time system where noon is marked at 6 o'clock, reflecting a cultural adaptation of timekeeping.

What is Swahili Time and how does it differ from standard time?

Swahili Time is a local timekeeping system near the equator where the day starts at 6 in the local time zone, and people mentally adjust the hour hand when they tell the time.

How do the Thai people traditionally count the hours in a day?

In the Thai way of keeping time, hours are counted from one to six, and this cycle repeats four times a day, resulting in a 24-hour day.

What are 'temporal hours' and how do they differ from 'equal hours'?

Temporal hours are hours that vary in length depending on the time of year and the amount of daylight, whereas equal hours are of a fixed length, as used in modern standard timekeeping.

What is the significance of the sundial in ancient Egypt in terms of timekeeping?

The Egyptian sundial divided sunlight from sunrise to sunset into twelve segments, creating temporal hours that would expand and contract with the seasons.

What is the term for the water clock in ancient and medieval times, and how was it used?

The term for the water clock in ancient and medieval times is 'klepsydra'. It was used to measure time by the regulated flow of water.

How did the Chinese traditionally divide the day into time units?

Traditionally, the Chinese divided the day into twelve 'shí' or equal hours and further subdivided the day into hundredths, with a hundred 'kè' per day.

What is the concept of 'pahar' in northern India and how does it relate to timekeeping?

Pahar refers to the division of the day into eight parts in northern India, which not only determined the ceremonial and musical themes but also had practical applications in daily life.

How does the Japanese concept of extending time beyond the standard 24 hours work?

In Japan, late night events can stretch to 25 o'clock, 29 o'clock, or even 30 o'clock, creating a 30-hour day where the last six hours overlap with the start of the next day.

What is unique about the timekeeping method in Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria?

In Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria, an old sundial divides the day into sixteen segments, but instead of using numbers, the locals use the names of birds that cry out at the same time each day to keep track of time.

Outlines

00:00

🕰 Diverse Timekeeping Practices

This paragraph explores the various ways time is measured and understood across different cultures. It starts with a series of questions about the nature of time and how it is perceived, emphasizing the influence of culture and language. The narrative then shifts to Zanzibar, where a peculiar clock at the House of Wonders challenges the conventional understanding of time. The local Swahili Time is introduced, which adjusts the standard time to align with the local sunrise. The concept of Swahili Time is further explained, showing how it divides the day into two 12-hour cycles, each hour occurring twice. The paragraph also touches on alternative timekeeping methods, such as the 24-hour clock and the six-hour clock found in Italy and Thailand, respectively. It concludes with a discussion on the variability of hours, from the 'temporal hours' of ancient Egypt, which changed with the seasons, to the mechanical innovations of al-Jazari, who created a clock to accommodate these variable hours.

05:00

🌏 Timekeeping Through History and Culture

The second paragraph delves into historical and cultural perspectives on timekeeping. It begins with the mention of ancient water clocks and the evolution of timekeeping devices, leading to the sophisticated clocks of al-Jazari. The discussion then moves to the linguistic aspect of timekeeping, highlighting how different languages distinguish between the concepts of 'day' and 'daylight hours'. The Chinese example is given, where '日' represents a full day-night cycle, traditionally divided into twelve 'shí' or 'double hours'. This is contrasted with the decimal system that split the day into hundredths, known as 'kè'. The paragraph also touches on the Nāhua method of dividing the day into parts, the eight 'pahar' of northern India, and the Japanese practice of extending time beyond the traditional 24 hours to include '25 o'clock' and beyond. The narrative concludes with the Yorùbá people's unique approach to timekeeping, which relies on natural cues like bird calls rather than numerical time. The paragraph emphasizes the diversity and richness of timekeeping practices around the world, reflecting the cultural and historical contexts in which they have developed.

Keywords

💡Cultural Timekeeping

Cultural timekeeping refers to the diverse methods societies have developed to measure and organize time, which often reflect their unique history, environment, and lifestyle. In the video, this concept is central as it explores various timekeeping systems around the world, such as Swahili Time in Zanzibar, where the day starts at sunrise and is adjusted to a local standard, demonstrating how time is deeply rooted in cultural practices.

💡Swahili Time

Swahili Time is a unique timekeeping system used in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where the day begins at sunrise and is divided into two cycles of 12 hours, each hour striking twice a day. This system is highlighted in the video as an example of how local environments and customs can shape the way time is perceived and measured, contrasting with the standard timekeeping practices.

💡Temporal Hours

Temporal hours are hours that vary in length depending on the time of year, with longer hours in the summer and shorter ones in the winter due to the changing length of daylight. The video mentions Egyptian sundials that divide sunlight into twelve segments, illustrating the concept of temporal hours, which were once considered the true hours before the adoption of equal hours in modern timekeeping.

💡Equal Hours

Equal hours are hours of the same length, regardless of the time of year, which are the basis of the modern 24-hour clock system. The video contrasts temporal hours with equal hours, explaining how the latter provides a standardized measure of time that does not change with the seasons, allowing for consistent timekeeping globally.

💡Campanili

Campanili are bell towers, often found in Italy, that historically housed public clocks. The video refers to medieval clocks within these campanili that operated on a six-hour system, showing the historical diversity in timekeeping mechanisms and their cultural significance.

💡Thai Timekeeping

Thai timekeeping is another example of a unique system where the hours are counted from one to six, repeated four times a day, resulting in a 24-hour cycle. This method is mentioned in the video to illustrate the variety of ways time can be segmented and understood across different cultures.

💡Al-Jazari

Al-Jazari was a Persian polymath and inventor who lived over eight hundred years ago and is known for creating sophisticated mechanical clocks. The video discusses his elephant clock in Dubai, which had to overcome the challenge of varying hour lengths, showcasing the ingenuity in ancient timekeeping technology.

💡Klepsydra

Klepsydra, in ancient Greece, referred to a water clock, which was an early method of timekeeping. The video mentions the evolution of this term to refer to an hourglass in modern times, reflecting the historical development of timekeeping devices.

💡Nāhua Timekeeping

Nāhua timekeeping is an ancient system used by the Nāhua people, where the day was divided into four parts for daylight and seven for night. The video uses this as an example to show how different cultures have distinct ways of dividing the day, which can differ significantly from the modern 24-hour system.

💡Pahar

Pahar is a traditional Indian time unit used to divide the day into eight parts, each with its own ceremonial and musical theme. The video explains how this system is still reflected in modern Hindi language, such as the word for 'afternoon' which means 'two pahar', demonstrating the integration of timekeeping with cultural practices.

💡Japanese Temporal Hours

Japanese temporal hours refer to the historical practice of counting time based on the length of daylight, with hours expanding and contracting throughout the year. The video mentions that modern Japan has largely adopted the 12 and 24-hour clock system, but there is a unique practice of extending time beyond midnight to 25, 29, or even 30 o'clock for late-night events, reflecting a cultural sentiment about the transition from one day to the next.

💡Yorùbá Sundial

The Yorùbá sundial is an example of a traditional timekeeping device used in Africa, with a circle divided into sixteen segments. The video highlights that instead of using numbers, the Yorùbá people associate time with natural events, such as the calls of birds at certain moments, illustrating the connection between timekeeping and the natural world.

Highlights

World timekeeping methods vary significantly based on culture and language.

In Zanzibar, the House of Wonders clock reads 6 o'clock at noon due to Swahili Time.

Swahili Time is mentally adjusted by locals, with the day starting at 6 AM local time.

Different timekeeping practices exist globally, such as the 24-hour clock and six-hour clocks in Italy and Thailand.

Temporal hours, which change in length with daylight, were once considered the true hours.

Ancient water clocks, like the klepsydra, were used to measure temporal hours.

Languages often differentiate between the words for 'day' and 'daylight hours'.

In traditional Chinese timekeeping, the day was divided into twelve equal hours and a decimal system of kè and fēn.

The Nāhua people divided the day into four parts and the night into seven, with a unique understanding of clockwise.

In northern India, the day is divided into eight pahar, influencing ceremonial and practical aspects of life.

The muhūrt is a smaller unit of time in Indian timekeeping, with thirty in a day.

Japanese timekeeping has transitioned from unequal temporal hours to the 12 and 24-hour clock system.

In Japan, late-night events can extend beyond the 24-hour mark to 25, 29, or even 30 o'clock.

In Ilé-Ifẹ̀, a sundial divides the day into sixteen segments, but time is told by the calls of birds rather than numbers.

Many languages use natural cues like the sun, moon, and animal behavior to keep track of time.

The video explores the fascinating diversity of timekeeping methods around the world.

Transcripts

Our world tells time in a variety of ways.

It has for a long time.

How many hours are in a day?

Which direction is clockwise?

Do days just touch or can they... overlap?

The way you answer those depends on your culture and your language.

Zanzibar, Tanzania.

The tallest building when you get off the ferry in Stone Town is a famous local landmark

called the House of Wonders.

On the top there's a clock that might throw off your sense of time.

At noon when the sun is directly overhead, its hands read 6 o'clock.

At 9am it actually says 3:00!

Hm, strange.

But you manage to house your wonders and go enjoy tea with a local friend.

(Chai time!)

You notice her watch and ask for the time.

She glances down.

You're relieved to see her hands read the same time as yours, 10am.

But without stopping to think she nods her head back up to you and says,

"4 o'clock."

What's going on here?

Well a hint: you're near the equator, where the sun rises around the same time every morning,

6 in the local time zone.

Everyone's up and starting their day at seven.

With such a reliable natural standard timekeeper, that winds up being 1 o'clock Swahili Time.

Even though your friend sets her watch "normally", like other Swahili speakers, ask her what

time it is and she mentally winds back the hour hand.

Watch says one thing, person says another.

Here you're surrounded by clocks that read standard time

and people who adjust it to Swahili time.

Do not get disoriented.

This is normal.

Like people around the world, their days are repeating cycles.

Swahili Time just shifts when the cycle starts.

Or maybe you're the shifty one?

Well, Swahili time may rotate that circle , but it still splits it into

two rounds of 12 hours, with each hour striking twice per day.

Surely you're aware of one alternative to this, the 24 hour clock, each hour once per day.

But have you taken a tour of Italy and seen all the beautiful campanili?

I haven't.

If you have, did you find any unusual medieval clocks?

I hear there remain some six hour clocks that still tick on like this one.

But you don't have to take a trip to the past.

Go to Thailand, and you'll meet six hour time tellers there, too.

In the Thai way of keeping time, you count the hours from one to six four times a day.

So even a standard 24 hour day around the world might be one round of 24 hours, two

rounds of twelve, or four rounds of six hours.

And that's assuming we're using the new kind of hours...

Inside an enormous shopping mall in Dubai there's a huge mechanical elephant clock,

a replica of a contraption invented over eight hundred years ago by al-Jazari.

Want to know one of the biggest hurdles this clock had to overcome?

The way hours shrink and grow.

An hour isn't always an hour long.

See since ancient times many people have counted hours of daylight.

This Egyptian sundial divides sunlight, from sunrise to sunset, into twelve segments.

But Egypt like most of the world - and unlike Zanzibar - gets much more light in summer

and much less in winter, so the hours on this sundial expand and contract,

breathing with the seasons.

Technically called "temporal hours" now, they were once considered the true hours

versus today's standard "equal hours".

Go to Greece and say the word "water thief": klepsydra.

Nowadays people will think you mean this, an hourglass.

Once though, long ago, it meant this, a water clock.

In ancient and medieval times, inventors tinkered tirelessly with these devices, eventually

leading to al-Jazari's sophisticated clocks that could keep up with these changing

temporal hours.

A sidenote I find interesting at this point.

In many languages the words for day and day, daylight hours, have different roots.

In Swahili, siku versus mchana.

In Chinese, two different characters (日 vs 昼).

In English, however, day is its own hyperonym!

The first Chinese character there is for one full day-night cycle.

Traditionally, that was counted in twelve shí, sometimes translated "double hours".

So only twelve hours total in a day, and since now we know the fancy term I can say

equal hours!

But instead of subdividing these hours into minutes, a separate decimal system ran concurrently,

splitting the day into hundredths, a hundred kè per day.

Then you could cut those into smaller fēn.

(Something like that would happen later in the French Revolution.)

All three of these words continue to be used today, fitted onto more modern units:

twenty four hours, each with

four quarter hours and sixty minutes.

Subtract one of those double hours and you're reckoning time the old Nāhua way.

They divided the daylight day into four parts and the night into seven.

They also have a different understanding of the word clockwise.

So do this. Face north.

Point to the sun, following it from east to west.

Counterclockwise.

See, circles in this part of the world cycle the other way, like on the famous sunstone

unearthed from the streets of Mexico City, symbols run this direction.

Now off to northern India, where for ages the day has been ritually divided into eight pahar.

These determine the ceremonial and musical theme of the moment, but they're also practical,

which you can still see in the Hindustani word for "afternoon".

Break it down, it means "two pahar".

There are actually many, many smaller and larger units of time.

Take the muhūrt, of which there are thirty in a day.

Divisible all the way down to fractions of microseconds.

You know who else has 30 hour days?

Kind of.

In Japan, timekeeping has ditched the unequal hours that once characterized Japanese clocks,

which count backwards for six temporal hours twice a day.

Well, there is this one watchmaker who's crafted a temporal hour watch, but otherwise,

Japan fully embraces the 12 and 24 hour clock.

And they found a way to top it.

(Apply break time limit!)

Late night events can stretch to 25 o'clock, 29 o'clock, all the way up to 30.

Maybe you feel like if you're up past midnight, it's not tomorrow yet.

Not really, I mean,

you haven't even gone to bed.

The 30 hour clock taps into that sentiment, with the interesting result that the last

six hours of the day overlap with what will have been the technical start of your

24 hour day when you wake up tomorrow.

To close this out, let's circle back once more to Africa, but a very different place.

In Ilé-Ifẹ̀ I'm told there's an old sundial with a circle divided into sixteen segments.

But even though the Yorùbá language natively has plenty of numerals up into the millions,

you won't catch this farmer rigidly using the numbers one to sixteen to talk about time.

Instead he knows the names of birds that routinely cry out at the same moment every day.

See in many languages, the time you tell isn't merely a number.

The sun, moon, beasts and sequences of human events help keep natural time.

Thanks for getting wound up about linguistic clocks with me.

Thanks to patrons for supporting this, I hope you enjoy the background sketches, seeing

your names in the outro and the other rewards I enjoyed preparing.

And thank you for sticking around for language.