Clock Time

Clock time in Oneida is a bit tricky. Let‘s start with a couple words:

noon: ʌ́tyʌ ni·kále̲ʔ OR ʌtí
midnight: ahsútha
morning: astéhtsi̲ʔ
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 say ahsútha or ʌtí, respectively. Now, let‘s look at a couple simple examples:

English	Oneida
1:00 a.m.	úska niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
7:00 a.m.	tsyá·tak niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
11:00 a.m.	úska yawʌ·lé· niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
1:00 p.m.	úska niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
4:00 p.m.	kayé niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
5:00 p.m.	wísk yawʌ·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.

English	Oneida
2:05 a.m.	wísk nikahí·kalake yotukóhtu tékni niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
3:30 a.m.	tshaʔtewahsʌnʌ́ áhsʌ niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
4:50 a.m.	oye·lí· nikahí·kalake tyono·lúhe wísk niyohwistá·e astéhtsi̲ʔ
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:

English	Oneida
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:

yoʔkaláshʌ̲: 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:

English	Oneida
2:05 p.m.	ostúha yotukóhtu tékni niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti
4:55 p.m.	nʌ́ kiʔ thóha wísk niyohwistá·e yotukóhtu ʌ́ti