If a 'week' is 13 days, what do you call it?

[Trick]

I have heard of a Trecena, which is the Spanish name for the Aztec/Mayan thirteen day period that consisted of a half of a moon cycle. My thirteen day week is the same except that in my world, it is always correct. There is no variation from the Lunar and Solar calendars. So, since the language in my WIP is heavily influenced by German I began to search.

Trecena sounded too Spanish and doesn't fit the mood of the book. In Old Norse, thirteen is tretten; as I believe it still is in Dutch but don't quote me on that. My first instinct was: too many syllables. Since I speak English as my native language I am used to using a one syllable word for our current smallest period of days. The word 'week' is spoken so often that it is unconsciously thought of as seven days; but that's not what it means. It comes from various roots in multiple Germanic languages and means (approximately) a turning or succession. So, it could mean thirteen days. But I know it won't to the average reader. So I can't use it. Ugh.

My first solution was 'Treck.' It's one syllable and ends on that familiar hard K sound. It begins like Trecena and Tretten so it would have that thirteen-feel to it. But it rhymes with Trek... So, I can spell it the same way and have the word mean both things (intentionally) or I can spell it differently and have only audiobook listeners be confused. I've tried various spellings and pronunciations but most sound too strange.

My second solution was to find a word meaning 'half of a month' since month comes from the same root as moon and is so named for a full lunar cycle. Fortnight is right out since it literally means fourteen nights. There is an Irish word for half of a lunar cycle (they thought of that as fifteen nights) but it is, like many Irish words, totally impossible to pronounce based on the spelling.

I'm not exactly at square one, but it feels a bit like that.

Can anyone help? And before you tell me I'm overthinking this, I know I am. I'm overthinking that I'm overthinking it. It's just who I am.

Thanks!

 

[Ireth]

If 'fortnight' doesn't work, how about 'thirtnight'?

 

[Caged Maiden]

I like "Treck". I think if you spelled it "Trek" and had it mean either a journey or a period of time lasting thirteen days, it sounds great. Maybe there could have been some story for how it came to mean both, like a legendary hero journeyed for thirteen days to... and that's were it came from. Or really anything. Heck.. it could be the moon's "trek" across the sky, made twice a month. I think if you go that route, it's really easy to explain and a sentence or two (not many sentences) will make it easy and clear to a reader.

Another idea... In my book, I have a small moon that appears every tenth night in the sky (not an astronomer, so I now know this is relatively impossible, but anyhoo...) it's called Muir and so every ten days, a "Muirweek" passes. Honestly.. I like your example better than my own, so I'd stick with what you have because it sounds good.

 

[Steerpike]

The word "week" is an artificial construct for a recurring period of days. If your world has weeks that are thirteen days long, I'd still call them weeks. Don't worry about readers not getting it. They will.

 

[Trick]

If 'fortnight' doesn't work, how about 'thirtnight'?

Thanks for responding. I thought of that and as easy as it would be to do, requiring very minimal explanation, I couldn't get one rhyme out of my head: Squirt Night. Clearly, I'm somewhat eccentric.

I like "Treck". I think if you spelled it "Trek" and had it mean either a journey or a period of time lasting thirteen days, it sounds great. Maybe there could have been some story for how it came to mean both, like a legendary hero journeyed for thirteen days to... and that's were it came from. Or really anything. Heck.. it could be the moon's "trek" across the sky, made twice a month. I think if you go that route, it's really easy to explain and a sentence or two (not many sentences) will make it easy and clear to a reader.

Another idea... In my book, I have a small moon that appears every tenth night in the sky (not an astronomer, so I now know this is relatively impossible, but anyhoo...) it's called Muir and so every ten days, a "Muirweek" passes. Honestly.. I like your example better than my own, so I'd stick with what you have because it sounds good.

Thank you. At the moment I'm still writing Treck whenever it's required and I love the sound of it. Trek used as both is also something I like and had thought of it similar ways. I even have a backstory that might help. My only remaining issue is trying to explain it without sounding like, "Wait, why do we call half of a month a Trek?" ""Well, long ago..." input unnatural backstory dialogue. I may find the way to do it but haven't yet.

 

[Trick]

The word "week" is an artificial construct for a recurring period of days. If your world has weeks that are thirteen days long, I'd still call them weeks. Don't worry about readers not getting it. They will.

It's not that I don't think they'll get it, I know that most people will. My concern is mental reflex. I write week, they read it and think 'seven days.'

Also, there would then be only two weeks in a month which is just not something people are used too. Not that this analogy is anywhere near perfect but here goes: Imagine I tell you that in my book there are flying ships shaped like tridecagons and they are called 'cars.'

When I write:

"Dax jumped in the car and sped off into the night." What image comes into your head first?

 

[Nihal]

If your lunar cycle always lasts 26 days 13 days periods are going to coincide with the same moon phases. It's easier to keep track of the moon than the sun due its short cycles and visible variations, so I suspect that the majority of your cultures would keep track of shorter spans of time by observing the moon, possibly using the sun only for longer periods like seasons and years.

"Let's meet next full moon" wouldn't be an inconvenient phrase at all because the knowledge of, let's say, new moon = start/end of the month and week 1, full moon = middle of month, week 2 would be a ingrained in people's brains.

 

[Trick]

If your lunar cycle always lasts 26 days 13 days periods are going to coincide with the same moon phases. It's easier to keep track of the moon than the sun due its short cycles and visible variations, so I suspect that the majority of your cultures would keep track of shorter spans of time by observing the moon, possibly using the sun only for longer periods like seasons and years.

"Let's meet next full moon" wouldn't be an inconvenient phrase at all because the knowledge of, let's say, new moon = start/end of the month and week 1, full moon = middle of month, week 2 would be a ingrained in people's brains.

Yes, the lunar cycles last 26 days and there are 13 months in a solar year. The solar and lunar cycles coincide perfectly. The only oddity is the seasons. There are four 3-month seasons and one 1-month season. The unique season is right before my version of autumn and is viewed as a season of rest and celebration.

I like your idea but I have one issue. Referring to time passing in direct reference to the moon gives me the impression of a society that is not very advanced. A pre-middle ages era, if you will. In my WIP there are hover vehicles, 'televisions' and teleporters. I feel that the two concepts are too disconnected.

 

[Nihal]

It sounds like a lower technological level indeed. Yet you can always connect the two by making sure the readers are informed that your people are well aware of what the moon is—a satellite that reflects the sunlight and acts over the tides. You could even have the moon to slightly interfere with some made up liquid substance mixed with the fuel, used in the engineer spirit level, something along those lines (it's a stretch, yeah, but it's fantasy) that would require adjustments from characters' part to make things work. It's your job to bring the moon concept out of the dark ages.

You don't need to use "full" and "new" moon either, you could use "first" and "second" moon or something like that, and it doesn't need to be your only way of referring to the 13 days period, but an auxiliary way to refer to it.

 

[chrispenycate]

If your moon cycle is exactly 26 days (unlikely, as the planet spinning on its axis to provide days would tend to precess through orbital cycles) your thirteen day period would be a demilune, (so much more elegant than a 'halbemonat'), generally shortened to a 'demi', though you'd also buy a demi of wine, bread or watermelon – you're unlikely to get confused between the contractions very often.

My Earth analogue calendar has thirteen moons of twenty-eight days, with a day and a bit off at winter solstice for bad behavour, and to allow the astrologers to realign the sun. It still has four seasons; as the system I've been living starts seasons on the twenty-first of the month, ie start points of seasons are equinoxes and solstices, putting them different distances into each moon does not cause any intellectual strain.

 

[Trick]

If your moon cycle is exactly 26 days (unlikely, as the planet spinning on its axis to provide days would tend to precess through orbital cycles) your thirteen day period would be a demilune, (so much more elegant than a 'halbemonat'), generally shortened to a 'demi', though you'd also buy a demi of wine, bread or watermelon – you're unlikely to get confused between the contractions very often.

My Earth analogue calendar has thirteen moons of twenty-eight days, with a day and a bit off at winter solstice for bad behavour, and to allow the astrologers to realign the sun. It still has four seasons; as the system I've been living starts seasons on the twenty-first of the month, ie start points of seasons are equinoxes and solstices, putting them different distances into each moon does not cause any intellectual strain.

Demi sounds alright to me. I'll see how it works in. You're right about the near impossibility of the perfect solar/lunar cycle match. Fortunately, in my WIP it was created by a god who really loves the number thirteen. He is the explanation.

Thanks!

 

[chrispenycate]

Actually, personally I was quite happy with the two syllable 'thirtnight', as I've been having a two syllable 'semaine' for decades now, and even a 'woche', while slightly more compact, still is a distinct double sound.

Trouble with thirteen is dividing the sky up with a pair of compasses, unless your deity has adjusted geometry to match

 

[Trick]

Trouble with thirteen is dividing the sky up with a pair of compasses, unless your deity has adjusted geometry to match

Easy peasy. The basic problem with dividing the sky by 13 is the 360 degree system. In a world based on 13, the degree system would be as well. The individual unit of a 'degree' need not be restricted by base-60, base-10 or base-12 for that matter (which some argue is the original base of the degree system). With a 390 degree system, which of course is still functional in base-10, the degrees would be slightly smaller than our Earthly measurement but still totally employable. Even Pi is only in use becasue the circle is divided into 360 even angles.

(I also don't forsee myself explaining any of this in the book. If I did, I'd probably only have like 4 fans. Fun discussion though.)