The Island newspaper of Monday 23rd August 1999 published the article I wrote in its entirety with the heading " The Millennium that Bugs us". In brief this gave a practical analysis of what a millennium, much talked of then, is. The dictionary described "Millennium" as a 1000 year slab. As much as a distance was traversed, so were the days passed to complete a period of time. I had to criticize in it the Announcers and some newspapers who were repeatedly saying daily that there were only certain number of days to complete 2000 years, that was to be on 31.12.1999. It did not dawn on them that it was completing 1999 years reckoning from the 1st day of the 1st month of 1999 to end the 12 months of that year 1999. They were all carried away by the sound of the figure ‘2000’.

Say now we are on the 15th of November 2000. This is in effect 1999 yrs +10 mths complete +15 days complete and moving forward to reach the 31st day of December to complete the 12 months of the year 2000. You cannot claim a 2000 year slab until you go up to that exact end. In the same way that you would count in Rs. 100 notes and tender Rs. 2000, so will you be passing a measured distance or days for a 2000 year period. Again I repeat that at the end of next month which is December 2000 it will be actualy 1999 yrs+1lmths complete+the 31 days of December complete to complete 2000 years to reach the dawn of 2001 (i.e. 1st day of that year), i.e. just crossed over. Do not then say that you have completed 2001 years while you are even writing the first date as 01.01.of 2001. This is not high mathematics, only basic arithmetic and additions not even any subtraction.

The next millennium (the 1000 year slab) will begin only after completing the current 2000 years at midnight of 31.12.2000. Also the 21st century i.e. the 1st century of the next millennium will begin on 01.01.2001.

In Sinhala the dates are written in two styles conflicting one another. Taking at random a date such as 10.11.1999 in one Sinhala style it would be written as ‘Warsha 1999 k wu November masa 10 veni dina’ giving the impression that 1999 is completed.

In the other Sinhala style it would be written as ‘Warsha 1999 ye November masa 10 veni dina’.

In the latter style the impression is given that there are more days and months to complete the year and is correct and 1is non-ambiguous.

Q. P. S. Dassanayake
Colombo 5