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I'm having trouble following the algorithm for the month number. From the article: The Month-Item. — If it begins or ends with a vowel, subtract the number, d

I'm having trouble following the algorithm for the month number. From the article: The Month-Item. — If it begins or ends with a vowel, subtract the number, denoting its place in the year, from 10. This, plus its number of days, gives the item for the following month. The item for January is ‘0’; for February or March (the 3rd month), ‘3’; for December (the 12th month), ’12.’ [So, for clarity, the required final numbers after division by 7 are January, 0; February, 3; March, 3; April, 6; May, 1; June, 4; July, 6; August 2; September, 5; October, 0; November, 3; and December, 5.] My attempt to implement: For January, the preceding month is December, which neither begins nor ends with a vowel, so I do not subtract 10. The days in December are 31, so 12+31 = 43 mod 7 = 1, not the 0 of the article. For February, the preceding month is January, which ends in a vowel, so I subtract 1 from 10, giving 9, add the days in January 1+31 = 32 mod 7 = 4, not the 3 of the article. For March, the preceding month is February, which ends in a vowel, so I subtract 2 from 10 giving 8 and add February's 28 days 8+28 = 36 mod 7 = 1, not the 3 of the article. Had I used a leap year 29 for the days in February at this step the result would be 2, which still does not match the article result. Since the article has a constant result for March, it is either always using 28 or always using 29 days in February. For April, the preceding month is March, which neither begins nor ends in a vowel so I do not subtract it from 10. 31 days in March gives 3+31 = 34 mod 7 = 6, which does match the article result. For May, the preceding month is April, which starts with a vowel, so I subtract its position from 10, 10-4 = 6, add April's 30 days 6+30 = 36 mod 7 = 1 which does match the article. For June, the preceding month is May, ending in a vowel, so I subtract May's 5 from 10, and adding May's 31 days gives 5+31= 36 mod 7 = 1 which does not match the article. This should suffice to illustrate my misunderstanding; what have I got wrong? [edit: typos]

rrgmitchell 2y ago
I struggled with this too. The best understanding I've been able to come to is this: 1. Every month's item number can be calculated from the preceding month's item number by the method given. I.e. add the number of days in the preceding month to the preceding month's item number then take mod 7. 2. For January we take it that there is no preceding month. Therefore the numbers in such a calculation are all zero, so we end up with zero. 3. For later months you don't need to start at January and go month by month to the month you want; you can start at a month with a start- or end-vowel and use the shortcut that such a month's item number is ten minus the month number. 4. For the purposes of 3, 'y' does not count as a vowel. Or maybe it's easier just to learn them!
v8xi 2y ago
Also had this issue. I even tried a bunch of different reformulations/reinterpretation of the provided formula and nothing helped :(
- xorbax 2y ago
  Perhaps if someone who gets the language did it for today's date, we'd both get some clarity. I've tried working backwards but the labyrinthine explanation doesn't project
rhdunn 2y ago
January -- The item for January is ‘0’ = 0 February, March -- The item ... for February or March (the 3rd month), ‘3’ = 3 December -- The item ... for December (the 12th month), ’12.’ So these all use fixed values. The `(10-place)+days mod 7` logic works for May, July, September, and November using the previous month's values -- effectively every other month. The vowel trick is likely a nmemonic for not having to remember which months to do this for. The other months are the previous month's `item+days mod 7`, although it is unclear where this interpretation is deduced. -- The "If it begins or ends with a vowel, subtract the number, denoting its place in the year, from 10." text does not apply, so I would have assumed that is was 0 not the calculated item value. Thus, I would have expected it to just use the days in month.

rrgmitchell 2y ago

I struggled with this too. The best understanding I've been able to come to is this: 1. Every month's item number can be calculated from the preceding month's item number by the method given. I.e. add the number of days in the preceding month to the preceding month's item number then take mod 7. 2. For January we take it that there is no preceding month. Therefore the numbers in such a calculation are all zero, so we end up with zero. 3. For later months you don't need to start at January and go month by month to the month you want; you can start at a month with a start- or end-vowel and use the shortcut that such a month's item number is ten minus the month number. 4. For the purposes of 3, 'y' does not count as a vowel. Or maybe it's easier just to learn them!

v8xi 2y ago

Also had this issue. I even tried a bunch of different reformulations/reinterpretation of the provided formula and nothing helped :(

xorbax 2y ago
Perhaps if someone who gets the language did it for today's date, we'd both get some clarity. I've tried working backwards but the labyrinthine explanation doesn't project

rhdunn 2y ago

January -- The item for January is ‘0’ = 0 February, March -- The item ... for February or March (the 3rd month), ‘3’ = 3 December -- The item ... for December (the 12th month), ’12.’ So these all use fixed values. The `(10-place)+days mod 7` logic works for May, July, September, and November using the previous month's values -- effectively every other month. The vowel trick is likely a nmemonic for not having to remember which months to do this for. The other months are the previous month's `item+days mod 7`, although it is unclear where this interpretation is deduced. -- The "If it begins or ends with a vowel, subtract the number, denoting its place in the year, from 10." text does not apply, so I would have assumed that is was 0 not the calculated item value. Thus, I would have expected it to just use the days in month.