Swahili time

So… I’m gradually learning a bit of Swahili. It’s slow going. The other night I actually managed to order a taxi in Swahili! That’s a start. Unfortunately although it’s possible to come up with words to say it’s much harder to understand what other people are saying. I am hopeful that as time goes on it will become easier.

One very interesting thing about Swahili is the way people talk about time. Instead of a new day beginning at midnight it begins at sunrise, or 6 am. (Since Tanzania is close to the equator the sun rises and sets at approximately the same time all year.) Basically, you count up from the bottom of the clock instead of down from the top. For example:

7 am is saa moja asubuhi  (1:00 in the morning)

noon is saa sita mchana  (6:00 midday)

9:30 pm is saa tatu na nusa jioni  (3:30 in the evening)

midnight is saa sita usiku (6:00 at night)

Usually people use English time when speaking English and Swahili time when speaking Swahili. So when confirming the time of something, it is not unusual to say “eleven o’clock – saa tano.”

In general Swahili is a fascinating language. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more!