Time
Lesson 8 of 13≈ 10 min
Counting the days… with numbers
An elegant shikomori quirk: the days of the week are built from numbers. Mufumoraru (« Monday ») = mufumo (day) + raru (3, in the shiNgazidja variant) — literally « the 3rd day ».
Friday idjimwa is an exception — it has its own name, because it's the day of the great Muslim prayer (equivalent of yawm al-jumʿa in Arabic).
Time vocabulary
| Shikomori | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| leo | today | |
| jana | yesterday | |
| vojana | the day before | Mahoran booklet, p. 46 |
| meso | tomorrow | |
| avasa | now | |
| mufumoraru | Monday | « the 3rd day » |
| mufumopvili | Sunday | « the 2nd day » |
| idjimwa | Friday | digraph dj — prayer day |
| mufumo | week, day | mufumo + n = day |
| mwezi | month (also: moon) | |
| maha | years | |
| îdî | (religious) festival | nasal vowel î (ar. عيد) |
| uku | night | class 11 |
Listening
- leo (today)
- meso (tomorrow)
- idjimwa (Friday)
- îdî (festival)
The two great îdî
In the Comoros and Mayotte, two great îdî (festivals) shape the year:
- *Îdî el-Fitri* — the breaking of the fast, at the end of Ramadan
- *Îdî el-Adha (or Îdî kuɓwa*, « the great festival ») — the sacrifice, ~70 days later
These days mean massive family visits, special dishes, new clothes for children. The word îdî (Arabic origin عيد) entered the language carrying its nasal vowel.
Practice
What does meso mean?
meso = ___.
How is « Monday » built?
mufumoraru = mufumo + ___.
Mini-quiz
Yesterday is said…
« yesterday » → ___.
The days of the week
From the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019, p. 46).
| Day | Shikomori | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | mufumoraru | mufumo « week » + raru « three » |
| Tuesday | mufumonne | + nne « four » |
| Wednesday | mufumotsano | + tsano « five » |
| Thursday | yahoa | |
| Friday | idjimwa | the day of the great prayer |
| Saturday | mufomotsi | source spelling |
| Sunday | mufumopvili | + pvili « two » (written mufumovhili) |
Months and moments
From the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019, p. 46).
| Shikomori | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| jâvye, fevriye, marsi, avrili | January to April | French loans |
| me, jwî, jwiye, utu | May to August | |
| septambru, oktobru, novambru, desambru | September to December | |
| asubuhi | morning | |
| mutsana | late morning | |
| ujoni | afternoon, evening | |
| uku | night | class 11 |
| nukta, dakika, sa | second, minute, hour | |
| mufumo, mwezi, mwaha | week, month, year | |
| mwahajana | last year | mwaha + jana |
Practice — the week
Thursday is said…
Thursday → ___.
Mufumotsano is built on tsano (« five »). It is…
…___.
Last lesson of Module 2!
Modern vocabulary: car, school, hospital, taxi, baby bottle, bank… All French loanwords from the colonial era, integrated with their articles.