Occasional Word in Merechi: tèpsëty

tèpsëty   ['tEpseti] n. mërèchi ceremonial calendar "month" of twenty days, from tèpsë, twenty.

This is the third of five days of the end-of-year intercalary festival chèmbel pëpícümnö, and the third of five calendar-related posts being made to celebrate it.

Today we're covering the tèpsëtyt. The non-solar ceremonial calendar of the mërèchi is composed of seven twenty-day periods called tèpsëty, or "twenty-days". It is thought that the twenty-day period comes from the interaction of the cycle of the lènyis or four-day week running alongside the sànyis or five-day week. The lènyis and sànyis will be the subjects of the next two days of holiday posting, and the last two days of chèmbel pëpícümnö.

The names of the seven tèpsëty are not meaningful in the mërèchi language. They are:

	tèlch ['tElx]
	hàldë ['halde]
	ëníl [e'nil]
	lèchta ['lExta]
	àrdrü ['a4d4u]
	úchar ['uxa4]
	rechít [4E'xit]

Remember, you can see the calendar (the version I have up currently shows the lènyis but not the sànyis) here.