In Chamorro, we actually have two calendars – one calendar is the traditional Chamorro calendar, based upon the phases of the moon. The other calendar is the western calendar, which is based upon the sun and takes its days and months from Spanish. In this post, we’ll go over the days and months that use Spanish loanwords, how to make dates, and how to use these words in basic phrases.

Table of Contents General Terms Days of the Week Months Dates Basic Phrases Sample Sentences Sources

General Terms

First, here are some general terms that we can use to describe the calendar.

Chamoru	English
kalendårio / fanha’åniyan	calendar
diha / ha’åne	day
mes / pulan	month
såkkan	year

Days

Here are the days of the week for a 7-day week, and all of these are Spanish loanwords.

Chamoru	English
Damenggo	Sunday
Lunes	Monday
Mattes	Tuesday
Metkoles	Wednesday
Huebes	Thursday
Bietnes	Friday
Sabalu	Saturday

Months

Here are the months of the year, for a 12-month year, which are all Spanish loanwords.

Chamoru	English
Ineru	January
Febreru	February
Matso	March
Abrit	April
Mayu	May
Hunio	June
Hulio	July
Agosto	August
Septembre	September
Oktubre	October
Nubembre	November
Disiembre	December

Dates

To say a complete date that has a day, month, and year using Spanish loanwords, the basic format is:

gi + month + diha + day number + year

If you need a review on Spanish numbers, see this page: Numiru

Month and Days

First, let’s do some examples with just a month and day. To follow the format above, the month and the day number are underlined:

Chamoru	English
gi Måyu diha trentai unu	May 31
gi Ineru diha dos	January 2
gi Hunio diha bente kuattro	June 24
gi Måtso diha onsse	March 11
gi Oktubre diha disisiette	October 17

Years

Now let’s do some drills on how to make years, using Spanish loanwords. First, let’s look at how to make the base layer for years:

Chamorro	English
dos mit	2000
mit nuebi sientos	1900
mit ocho sientos	1800
mit siette sientos	1700
mit sais sientos	1600

Now, we can add other decades once we have our base layer. The additions of decades are underlined:

Chamorro	English
dos mit bente	2020
dos mit dies	2010
mit nuebi sientos sisenta	1960
mit nuebi sientos kuarenta	1940
mit nuebi sientos nubenta	1990

Now, let’s add onto the dates from above by creating a specific year in each decade:

Chamorro	English
dos mit bente unu	2021
dos mit bente tres	2023
mit nuebi sientos sisentai ocho	1968
mit nuebi sientos kuarentai dos	1942
mit nuebi sientos nubentai sinko	1995

Finally, let’s put the days, months, and years together to make a complete date:

Chamorro	English
gi Måyu diha trentai unu, dos mit bente	May 31, 2020
gi Ineru diha dos, dos mit bente tres	January 2, 2023
gi Hunio diha bente kuattro, mit nuebi sientos sisenta	June 24, 1960
gi Måtso diha onsse, mit nuebi sientos kuarentai dos	March 11, 1942
gi Oktubre diha disisiette, mit nuebi sientos nubentai sinko	October 17, 1995

Basic Phrases

Now, let’s look at some basic phrases you can use with the days and months. In the phrases below, you can swap out any day of the week or month of the year in the underlined portion:

Chamoru	English
kada Damenggo	every Sunday
katna ha’ kada Damenggo	almost every Sunday
gi Damenggo	on Sunday
gi mamaila’ na Damenggo	next Sunday / on the coming Sunday
gi ma’pos na Damenggo	last Sunday / on the past Sunday

Sample Sentences

Now, let’s use the phrases from above in some sample sentences, so we can see how they can be used in speech. Each phrase from the previous table is italicized in the sentences below:

Chamoru	English
Gi ma’pos na såkkan, humosme Misa si primu-hu kada Damenggo.	Last year, my cousin went to Mass every Sunday.
Homóhosme Misa si nanå-hu biha katna ha’ kada Damenggo.	My grandmother goes to Mass almost every Sunday.
Humosme yu’ Misa gi Damenggo.	I went to Mass on Sunday.
Para u hosme Misa gi mamaila’ na Damenggo.	She will go to Mass next Sunday.
Ti humosme hao Misa gi ma’pos na Damenggo.	You did not go to Mass last Sunday.

Finally, let’s use some of our dates in sample sentences:

Chamoru	English
Mafañågu yu’ gi mit nuebi sientos nubentai ocho na såkkan.	I was born in 1998.
Mafañågu si primu-hu gi Oktubre diha disisiette gi mit nuebi sientos nubentai sinko	My cousin was born on October 17, 1995.
Matutuhon i nubena gi Disiembre diha disisais.	The novena started on December 16th.

Sources

Topping, D. M., & Ogo, P. M. (1980). Spoken Chamorro with Grammatical Notes and Glossary (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia) (2nd ed.). University of Hawaii Press.

• Dates in Chamorro: pg. 276