Help Translating Word Clock

j.e.f.f

I just pushed an update to correct the German layout. Here’s an example:

kruemel

erm… sounds strange to me (Switzerland)
We say: “Es ist zwanzig nach zwölf”
or “es ist fünf vor halb eins”

or “es ist fünf nach eins”
or “es ist zwanzig vor eins”

but nobody here says “zehn vor halb eins”

… complicated this world languages, everybody talks different :D

A Former User

:D
In Standarddeutsch(Hochdeutsch),
08:20

Es ist zwanzig nach acht.
Es ist zehn vor halb neun.
both are available. (Also, zwanzig vor = zehn nach halb)

How about this?
08:15

Es ist Viertel nach acht.
Es ist viertel acht.

And in some southern German, even this is available.

09:45

Es ist drei viertel neun.

09:40

Es ist fünf Minuten vor drei viertel neun.

That is why I dropped my German lesson. :)

strawberry 3.141

@Sean the first is correct zwanzig vor = zehn nach halb

the second is incorrect

08:15
Es ist Viertel nach acht.
Es ist viertel acht.

It is either Es ist viertel nach acht or Es ist viertel neun, but Es ist viertel acht would be 07:15.

The next is also correct

09:45
Es ist drei viertel neun.

And the last would be theoretically correct as well, but I really never heard someone saying this.

09:40
Es ist fünf Minuten vor drei viertel neun.

German is probably one of the hardest languages to learn for foreigners.

A Former User

@strawberry-3.141 ^^ I was confused.^^ anyway, whether i’m living in Germany for several years as foreigner, Deutsche is verry difficult to learn. The only phrase I can speak is “Bitte? Leider ist meine Deutsche nicht so gut, Kennen Sie Engilsch sprechen?” :P

@j-e-f-f Do you have any interest about Far-East-Asian version for your clock? For Korean, Japanese and Chinese I can help you for the schemes of word clock with proper characters. They are probably easier than Indian-European languages. And even shorter and less exception.
Maybe it’s not useful for most users, but it could be pretty beautiful.

j.e.f.f

@Sean that would be amazing! I don’t think the fonts I’m using support double-byte characters though. I’ll have to check. I might need to source other fonts for these.

A Former User

@j.e.f.f noto font from google could be possible in raspbian. With my experience, people should install additional fonts for CJK supports like noto.

j.e.f.f

@Sean no need. If it’s available in google fonts then I can include it with the module. That’s what I’m doing now.

I need two fonts. One for the I highlighted state, which should be a rather plain version, and one for the highlighted state which should be ornamental.

A Former User

@j.e.f.f Traditionally, sanserif and serif would fit.
In a few days, I’ll send you whole scheme for CJK.

Lange

In Denmark we use 12-hour clock when we read out.
At midnight we use only midnight (midnat)
At half past six (06:30) we use “It is halv six” (Den er halv seks)

It’s one o’clock --> Den er et (01:00)
It’s five minutes past one --> Den er fem minutter over et (01:05)
It’s quarter past one --> Den er kvart over et (01:15)
It’s half past one --> Den er halv to (01:30)
It’s twenty-five minutes to two --> Den er femogtyve minutter i to (01:35)
It’s quarter to two --> Den er kvart i to (01:45)
It’s ten minutes to two --> Den er ti minutter i to (01:50)
It’s one o’clock --> Den er et (01:00)
It’s five minutes past one --> Den er fem minutter over et (01:05)
It’s ten minutes past one --> Den er ti minutter over et (01:10)
It’s quarter past one --> Den er kvart over et (01:15)
It’s twenty minutes past one --> Den er tyve minutter over et (01:20)
It’s twenty-five minutes past one --> Den er femogtyve minutter over et (01:25)
It’s half past one --> Den er halv to (01:30)
It’s twenty-five minutes to two --> Den er femogtyve minutter i to (01:35)
It’s twenty minutes to two --> Den er tyve minutter i to (01:40)
it’s quarter to two --> Den er kvart i to (01:45)
It’s ten minutes to two --> Den er ti minutter i to (01:50)
It’s five minutes to two --> Den er 5 minutter i to (01:55)

If asked about the time we say “Den er” (It is) but if we give the information in we would normally say “Klokken er” (The time is) - I have used “Den er” in this translation, but “Klokken er” is also very useable
We dont use anything after a full hour “Den er et” or “Klokken er et” would be “Its one o’clock”

Let me know if I can do anything for you, this was just a quick translation

{
 "ITIS": "DEN ER",
 "HALF": "HALV",
 "QUARTER": "KVART",
 "MINUTES": "MINUTTER",
 "TO": "I",
 "PAST": "OVER",
 "ONE": "ET",
 "TWO": "TO",
 "THREE": "TRE",
 "FOUR": "FIRE",
 "FIVE": "FEM",
 "SIX": "SEKS",
 "SEVEN": "SYV",
 "EIGHT": "OTTE",
 "NINE": "NI",
 "TEN": "TI",
 "ELEVEN": "ELLEVE",
 "TWELVE": "TOLV",
 "TWENTY": "TYVE",
 "OCLOCK": "NOT-USED",
 "THIRTEEN": "TRETTEN",
 "FORTEEN": "FJORTEN",
 "FIFTEEN": "FEMTEN",
 "SIXTEEN": "SEKSTEN",
 "SEVENTEEN": "SYTTEN",
 "EIGHTEEN": "ATTEN",
 "NINETEEN": "NITTEN",
 "THIRTY": "TYVE",
 "FORTY": "FYRRE",
 "FIFTY": "HALVTREDS",
 "OH": "OH",
 "HUNDRED": "HUNDREDE",
 "ZERO": "NUL"
}

Atteraxol

@j-e-f-f I found this german word clock. Could be a help for the layout of the words.

A Former User

@j.e.f.f

word clock for CJK

If you cannot see characters of this document in your browser properly, tell me please. (In that case, you should install CJK fonts like Google Noto)

General

Chinese, Japanese, Korean fonts are composited by multi-byte characters
They use 12H system, but in military, science and public service, 24H system is also used.
In 24H system, they use 00 hour, but usually in 12H system, they call it 12 hour.
e.g) 12:10 is called pm 12:10, 00:10 is called am 12:10.
Traditionally they use dawn-morning-daylight-evening-night time slot system, but the borders between slots are very ambiguous, therefore am and pm system is more normally used nowadays.
Unlike the known, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are not kin-languages. They have no embryological and lingual relation each other. But they shared so many words because they had used same characters historically.
Chinese and Japanese don’t use whitespace between words, but Korean do. However, You don’t need to consider that point in wordclock.
They read numbers as 10-based decimal digits not 12-based duodenary like Western. And they read numbers from left to right always without exception.
in CJK, reading multi-digits numbers are based on 10-digits multiplication.
So, from 1 to 9 is just read as 1 - 9, and 10 is 1 * 10, 100 is 1 * 100 and you can calcluate how it goes. (e.g. 123 is 1*100 + 2 * 1*10 + 3)

number		Chinese	Japanese	Korean
1		`一`	`一`	`일`
10	(1 * 10)	`十`	`十`	`십`
11	(1 * 10) + 1	`十一`	`十一`	`십일`
12	(1 * 10) + 2	`十二`	`十二`	`십이`
20	2 * (1 * 10)	`二十`	`二十`	`이십`
21	2 * (1 * 10) + 1	`二十一`	`二十一`	`이십일`

Japanese

The only serious problem is that Japanese KANJI(borrowed characters from Chinese) string could be read differently in each context. However, We don’t need to consider how the text is read and pronounced. ^^; It’s none of our business.
They don’t use white spaces between words, but in this document, I add space for your understanding.

Japanese clock scheme

Simplest Version

{
  'timeslot' : {'午前', '午後'}, // 'am', 'pm'
  '10hour' : {'十'}, // '1*10' 
  'under10hour' : {'一', '二', '三', '四', '五', '六', '七', '八', '九'}, // '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9'
  'hoursymbol' : {'時'}, // 'hour'
  'over10min' : {'二', '三', '四', '五'}, // '2', '3', '4', '5'
  '10min' : {'十'}, // '1*10'
  'each5min' : {'五'}, // '5'
  'minutesymbol' : {'分'}, // 'minute'
}

example)
am 01:00 => 午前一時
am 02:05 => 午前二時五分
am 03:10 => 午前三時十分
am 04:15 => 午前四時十五分
am 05:20 => 午前五時二十分
am 06:25 => 午前六時二十五分
pm 07:30 => 午後七時三十分
pm 08:35 => 午後八時三十五分
pm 09:40 => 午後九時四十分
pm 10:45 => 午後十時四十五分
pm 11:50 => 午後十一時五十分
pm 12:55 => 午後十二時五十五分
That’s all.

Is it too easy? Here is more formal version.
Formal Version

{
  'phrasestart' : {'今は'}, // 'Now, it is...'
  'timeslot' : {'午前', '午後'}, // 'am', 'pm'
  '10hour' : {'十'}, // '1*10' 
  'under10hour' : {'一', '二', '三', '四', '五', '六', '七', '八', '九'}, // '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9'
  'hoursymbol' : {'時'}, // 'hour'
  'justat' : {'定刻'}, // 'just, sharp at hour'
  'halfhour' : {'半'}, // 30min
  'over10min' : {'二', '三', '四', '五'}, // '2', '3', '4', '5'
  '10min' : {'十'}, // '1*10'
  'each5min' : {'五'}, // '5'
  'minutesymbol' : {'分'}, // 'minute'
  'before' : {'前'}, // to use XX min before hour
  'phraseend' : {'です。'}, // ending symbol of phrase
}

You can add '今は' and 'です。' for making full sentence.
It is am 02:05. => 今は午前二時五分です。
You can use '定刻' after hoursymbol for displaying ‘just at hour’.
It is exactly am 01:00. => 今は午前一時定刻です。
You can use '半' for displaying half-hour.
It is pm 07:30. => 今は午後七時三十分です。 => 今は午後七時半です。
You can use '前' for small minutes before hour. (usually below 15 minutes)
5 mins before => '五分前'
10 mins before => '十分前'
15 mins before => '十五分前'
It is pm 10:45. => 今は午後十時四十五分です。 => 今は午後十一時十五分前です。

Korean

It is same with the formal Japanese version, but with Korean own characters.

{
  'phrasestart' : {'지금은'}, // 'Now, it is...'
  'timeslot' : {'오전', '오후'}, // 'am', 'pm'
  '10hour' : {'열'}, // '1*10' 
  'under10hour' : {'한', '두', '세', '네', '다섯', '여섯', '일곱', '여덟', '아홉'}, // '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9'
  'hoursymbol' : {'시'}, // 'hour'
  'justat' : {'정각'}, // 'just, sharp at hour'
  'halfhour' : {'반'}, // 30min
  'over10min' : {'이', '삼', '사', '오'}, // '2', '3', '4', '5'
  '10min' : {'십'}, // '1*10'
  'each5min' : {'오'}, // '5'
  'minutesymbol' : {'분'}, // 'minute'
  'before' : {'전'}, // to use XX min before hour
  'phraseend' : {'입니다.'}, // ending symbol of phrase
}

It is exactly am 01:00 => 지금은 오전 한 시 정각 입니다.
It is am 02:05 => 지금은 오전 두 시 오 분 입니다.
It is am 03:10 => 지금은 오전 세 시 십 분 입니다.
It is am 04:15 => 지금은 오전 네 시 십 오 분 입니다.
It is am 05:20 => 지금은 오전 다섯 시 이 십 분 입니다.
It is am 06:25 => 지금은 오전 여섯 시 이 십 오 분 입니다.
It is pm 07:30 => 지금은 오후 일곱 시 삼 십 분 입니다. => 지금은 오후 일곱 시 반 입니다.
It is pm 08:35 => 지금은 오후 여덟 시 삼 십 오 분 입니다.
It is pm 09:40 => 지금은 오후 아홉 시 사 십 분 입니다.
It is pm 10:45 => 지금은 오후 열 시 사 십 오 분 입니다. => 지금은 오후 열 한 시 십 오 분 전 입니다. (It is 15 min before pm 11:00)
It is pm 11:50 => 지금은 오후 열 한 시 오 십 분 입니다. => 지금은 오전 열 두 시 십 분 전 입니다. (It is 10 min before am 12:00)
It is pm 12:55 => 지금은 오후 열 두 시 오 십 오 분 입니다. => 지금은 오후 한 시 오 분 전 입니다. (It is 5 min before pm 01:00)

Chinese (Simplified) - Usually used in Chinese culture except for Taiwan

It is slightly different with Japanese formal version.
They don’t use white spaces between words, but in this document, I add space for your understanding.

{
  'phrasestart' : {'现在'}, // 'Now, it is...'
  'timeslot' : {'上午', '下午'}, // 'am', 'pm'
  'hour' : {'一', '两', '三', '四', '五', '六', '七', '八', '九', '十', '十一', '十二'}, // '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '10', '11', '12'
  'hoursymbol' : {'点'}, // 'hour'
  'justat' : {'钟'}, // 'just, sharp at hour'
  'halfhour' : {'半'}, // 30min
  'quarterhour' : {'一刻', '三刻'}, // 15min, 45min
  'over10min' : {'二', '三', '四', '五'}, // '2', '3', '4', '5'
  '10min' : {'十'}, // '1*10'
  'each5min' : {'五'}, // '5'
  'minutesymbol' : {'分'}, // 'minute'
  'phraseend' : {'。'}, // ending symbol of phrase
}

In Chinese, they have also ‘XX min before’ expressions, but it needs changing structure of words positions. So It’s better to ignore those.

It is exactly am 01:00. => 现在上午一点钟。
It is am 02:05. => 现在上午两点五分。
It is am 03:10. => 现在上午三点十分。
It is am 04:15. => 现在上午四点十五分。 => 现在上午四点一刻。
It is am 05:20. => 现在上午五点二十分。
It is am 06:25. => 现在上午六点二十五分。
It is pm 07:30. => 现在下午七点三十分。 => 现在下午七点半。
It is pm 08:35. => 现在下午八点三十五分。
It is pm 09:40. => 现在下午九点四十分。
It is pm 10:45. => 现在下午十点四十五分。 => 现在下午十点三刻。
It is pm 11:50. => 现在下午十一点五十分。
It is pm 12:55. => 现在下午十二点五十五分。

j.e.f.f

@Sean This is great! I’ll tackle this in the first week of September as I’m traveling next week, and this week is fairly busy as a result. But it looks to be a great challenge!

j.e.f.f

@Atteraxol @Sean @strawberry-3-141 @pjkoeleman @willfri There seems to be some disagreement as to which is correct when telling time in German:

For twenty past the hour (e.g.: 3:20), which of the following is more common (i.e.: if I were to make just one translation, which would be more familiar for most people?)

Es ist zwanzig nach drei
- or -
Es ist zehn vor halb vier

And similarly for twenty minutes to the hour:

Es ist zwanzig vor vier
- or -
Es ist zehn nach halb vier

Or does it matter? Are both equally correct?

strawberry 3.141

@j.e.f.f both versions are correct. I’m using the first one, not sure if this is more common or a regional thing.

Atteraxol

@j-e-f-f I never heard of the second version so it’s probably not so common. (native German speaker)

j.e.f.f

OK I just pushed a fairly significant update. If you are currently using this module, and you would like to use the update, the configuration has changed. Instead of the layout parameter, you now specify the desired language, and your screen orientation. Example:

    {
      module: "MMM-MyWordClock",
      position: "fullscreen_above",
      disabled: false,
      config: {
        showClockTimeOut: 1000,
        langauge: "EN",
        orientation: "tall" //or "wide"
      }
    }

The following languages are now supported:

EN English (default)
DE German
DE_CH Swiss German
FR French
NL Dutch

The best part of this update is that you can also specify * for the language. This will trigger the clock to pick one of the supported languages at random each time it updates!

I’m traveling all next week, but in the following week I’ll be adding the following languages:

DA Danish
ZH Chinese Simplified
JA Japanese
KO Korean
TL Tagalog (Philipino)

Thanks to everyone for your help!

j.e.f.f

@strawberry-3.141 I worked your Swiss German layout into the code. I couldn’t do a straight merge as I was also in the middle of re-architecting the code base. But I copied your layout files and modified them to work with the new system. I also rearranged some of the layout to have the words spaced out better. I don’t think I messed up the translation as a result – having spent so much time on the German one helped me understand yours – but when I get a few free seconds, I’ll post screenshots so you can validate.

j.e.f.f

@strawberry-3-141 As promised, here are screenshots of the layout integrated, both for the tall and wide layouts. Please let me know if it looks good

Tall:

Wide:

kruemel

09:40 would be correct:
Es isch zwanzg vor zäni

12:40 the same:
Es isch zwanzg vor eis

The rest looks fine :-)

By the way (you dont have to change it) but usualy we say “zwänzg” not “zwanzg” ;-)