The Dundulanyä calendar and timekeeping

Solar months and seasons

The Dundulanyä calendar counts the 418-day Eventoan solar year (naṃśāla), divided into 14 months (asānai, sg. asāna) of varying length (30 days on average), as well as a concurrent (not numbered) shorter cycle, called juñśätanä (from Lannä zunosä tanäy "count of days") of 216 days, which forms the basis of the "week" system, dividing that number of days into 18 "weeks" of 12 days each.

The solar year is not exactly 418 days long (the exact amount being roughly 418.1668 days), so that each sixth calendar year is a 419-day long leap year, adding one day at the end of the last month. The 418- or 419-day year and 216-day juñśätanä are grouped together into 78-year cycles (151 juñśätanä), where the 78th year is a leap year (the thirteenth in such a cycle) and the 151st juñśätanä also adds a single day (hence having a length of 217 days), so that both counts end on the same day (the 32,617th of the cycle) at the end of the 78th solar year / 151st juñśätanä.

The start of the calendar year is on the Southern hemisphere fall equinox, while days start at dawn. Months are grouped according to astronomical seasons of the Southern hemisphere, but it is the same nevertheless in the few areas of the Dundulanyä world north of the Equator; these are not immediately related to climatical seasons, as the Dundulanyä heartlands of Taktapṣikha have a monsonic climate with two distinct seasons and most of the Dundulanyä live in areas with tropical or equatorial climates.

Eleven out of the fourteen month names are related to constellations transited through during that month; two of them (the eighth and eleventh months) are related to religion and one (the last month of the year) is related to climatical conditions of Taktapṣikha.

The juñśätanä

Days, hours and shorter timespans

The Eventoan day is about 34.8 Earth hours long, and there is no uniform standard to divide it among the various parts of the planet. The Dundulanyä divide the day into 48 (40₁₂) subdivisions called garaṇai (singular garaṇa), each one about 43.5 Earth minutes long. The day is, for timekeeping and time expressions, divided starting at sunrise into seven periods, called gūsai (literally "cuts", sg. gūsa), the first six of six garaṇai each and the last one of twelve garaṇai.

All seven gūsai are named, and the last hour of each one has a special name. Hour names are used for the entire hour, i.e. sonda from 6r.0.00 to 6r.3.25.

1. raṇivu (r) "morning"; the sixth hour (6r.0.00) is sonda tūnuḍu or sonda (literally "early call");
2. mīmṛdauna (m) "midday"; the sixth hour, noon (6m.0.00) is lalla dāvan "highest sun";
3. saṃlallai (s), pl. tantum, "afternoon"; the sixth hour (6s.0.00) is ṭheba tūnuḍu or ṭheba "late call";
4. anuśamvīrä (n), pl. tantum, "late afternoon" (before-sunset); the sixth hour (6n.0.00) is śanu "sunset";
5. śusva (ś) "evening"; the sixth hour (6ś.0.00) is prācikha "last offering", i.e. closure of dinner;
6. okṣṇi lalēni or okṣṇīrä (k) "growing night"; the sixth hour (6k.0.00) is tiḫa "midnight";
7. lalēni (l) "night"; the twelfth hour (10l.0.00) is hāreṇe (e-stem) "dawn".

Other hours are simply named using ordinal numbers and the locative of the gūsa, e.g. raṇibbā lumpyä "first in the morning", mīmṛdaunā hälinaika "second in the midday", anuśamvīrän śulkesi "fifth in the late afternoon".

Each garaṇa is divided into four timeframes called railai (singular raila) – about 10.8 Earth minutes – further divided into 30 (26₁₂) units known as nartī (singular narti) – a little less than 22 Earth seconds each.
Nartī are divided into eight nīmaṣi (sg. nīmaṣe) – 2.72 Earth seconds – which are further divided into twelve idimaṣi (sg. idimaṣe), of 0.227 Earth seconds each.

Expressions of time

The following table lists the main particles used for expressions of time, which can have different meanings depending on the cases used:

Please note that the "weekdays" used in the table (emibe-laire, rirä-laire etc.) simply mean "day 1", "day 2" etc. and are placeholders used as long as the Dundulanyä calendar is not detailed.

Table notes:

1. prāyo and anuyo are particles; in colloquial, informal and neutral styles, the corresponding adverbs prāśā (after) and anuśā (before) can be used instead in the phrases with subjunctive verbs.