Learn Oneida

Clock Time

Clock time in Oneida is a bit tricky. Let‘s start with a couple words:
  • noon: ʌ́tyʌ ni·kále̲ʔ̲ OR ʌtí
  • midnight: ahsútha
  • morning: astéhtsiʔ
  • before: tyono·lúhe OR kalo tsiʔ niyo·lé· OR tsiʔ niyo·lé
  • after: yotukóhtu
  • half-past: tshaʔtewahsʌnʌ
So if someone asks you what time it is, and it‘s midnight or noon, you can simply sayahsútha or ʌtí, respectively. Now, let‘s look at a couple simple examples:
EnglishTranslation
1:00 a.m.
úska niyohwistá·e astéhtsiʔ
7:00 a.m.
tsyá·tak niyohwistá·e astehtsi
11:00 a.m.
úska yawa·lé niyohwistá·e astehtsi
1:00 p.m.
úska niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
7:00 p.m.
tsyá·tak niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
11:00 p.m.
úska yawa·lé niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
To incorporate minutes, there are a couple rules to establish...
  • When it‘s less than 30 minutes: "X minutes after the hour"
  • When it‘s exactly 30 minutes: "half-past"
  • When it‘s more than 30 minutes: "X minutes before the next hour"
If this is confusing, take a look at the examples below.
EnglishTranslation
2:05 a.m.
wísk nikahí·kalake yotukóhtu tékni niyohwistá·e astéhtsiʔ
3:30 a.m.
tshaʔtewahsʌnʌ́ áhsʌ niyohwistá·e astéhtsiʔ
4:50 a.m.
oye·lí· nikahí·kalake tyono·lúhe wísk niyohwistá·e astéhtsiʔ
2:05 p.m.
wísk nikahí·kalake yotukóhtu tékni niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
3:30 p.m.
tshaʔtewahsʌnʌ́ áhsʌ niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
5:50 p.m.
oye·lí· nikahí·kalake tyono·lúhe wísk niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
To make things even more confusing, you may instead hear:
EnglishTranslation
8:00 p.m.
téklu niyohwistá·e ʌyó·kalahweʔ
9:00 p.m.
wátlu niyohwistá·e yoʔkaláshʌ
10:00 p.m.
oye·lí· niyohwistá·e kwaʔashuté·ke
The new words above are:
  • yoʔkaláshʌ: evening (right now)
  • ʌyó·kalahwe: this evening / tonight
  • kwaʔashuté·ke: night-time
Lastly, we can use ostúha (a little bit) and nʌ́ kiʔ thóha (it is almost...) for more variety:
EnglishTranslation
2:05 p.m.
ostúha yotukóhtu tékni niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
4:55 p.m
nʌ́ kiʔ thóha wísk niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti