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> In swahili (at least in Tanzania), time is told inversly. Could this be under the influence of Arabic script? After all, Swahili used to be written in that s
by schoen 9y ago
> In swahili (at least in Tanzania), time is told inversly.
Could this be under the influence of Arabic script? After all, Swahili used to be written in that script.
[Edit: In particular, I meant because Arabic is written right-to-left; I think the parent commenter was saying that Swahili speakers think of a clock as moving what we would consider counter-clockwise.]
- ak39 9y agoIt's very possible. In Urdu, a a language with strong roots in Farsi and Arabic, and spoken in Pakistan, India ... Iran?, the word tomorrow and yesterday are both "kal". But the (auxiliary) verb associated with "kal" will clearly determine whether the tense is referenced as a tomorrow or a yesterday. "Kal awoge?" "Will you come 'kal'? "Kal ayeh?" "Did you come 'kal'"? My mother speaks Urdu. She too confuses the English versions sometimes. This mispeaking of hers is one the great sources of love we have for her. And she tries her best not give us a chance to show it!
- throw_away 9y agoThis video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2mekalOTas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2mekalOTas claims that it's because these countries are near the equator, and their sunrise and sunset times are very consistent throughout the year (exactly 12 hours apart). So, they have twelve hours after sunrise and twelve hours after sunset.