Names for the days of the week

Factual Questions
41

*Where shall we begin? How about alphabetically, with Arabic?

Months. There are two sets of months in Arabic: the Islamic lunar calendar, and the solar calendar. The dates do not match up the same from year to year because the lunar year is only 354 days long (29½ days average lunation * 12). It’s a wheel within a wheel: 33 lunar years fit into 32 solar years.

The lunar months:
muHarram
Safar
rabî‘ al-awwal
rabî‘ al-thânî
jumâdá al-ûlá
jumâdá al-âkhirah
rajab
sha‘bân
ramaDân
shawwâl
dhû al-qa‘dah
dhû al-Hijjah

We are currently (April 2, 2001) in the month of muHarram 1422 AH (Anno Hegirae). The new year began this time just last week, on March 26. Next year it begins on March 15. Moves back 11 or 10 days every year; goes all the way around in 33 cycles.

There are three sets of solar month names in Arabic, depending on what country you’re in.

  1. In Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, & Iraq, the month names come from ancient Aramaic or Canaanite (and you can see their resemblance to some of the Hebrew months too):
    January: kânûn al-thânî
    February: shubâT
    March: âdhâr
    April: nîsân
    May: ayyâr
    June: Hazîrân
    July: tammûz
    August: âb
    September: aylûl
    October: tishrîn al-awwal
    November: tishrîn al-thânî
    December: kânûn al-awwal

  2. In Egypt, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula, they simply use the (Arabicized) Latin names:
    yanâyir
    fibrâyir
    mârs
    abrîl
    mâyû
    yûniyû
    yûliyû
    aghusTus
    sibtambir
    uktûbir
    nûfimbir
    disimbir

  3. In the former French colonies of North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, & Mauritania), they use the French names, Arabicized. (I’ve heard that in Libya Colonel Mu‘ammar al-Qadhdhâfî has made up a whole new set of month names out of his imagination, but we can ignore those.)

Seasons.
Spring: rabî‘
Summer: Sayf
Autumn: kharîf
Winter: shitâ’

Directions.
North: shimâl
South: janûb
East: sharq (Sun’s rising)
West: gharb (Sun’s setting)

Now aren’t you glad you asked? :slight_smile:

42

*Months.
January: yi yue (One Moon)
February: er yue (Two Moon)
March: san yue (Three Moon)
April: si yue (Four Moon)
May: wu yue (Five Moon)
June: liu yue (Six Moon)
July: qi yue (Seven Moon)
August: ba yue (Eight Moon). Teahouse of the August Moon: ba yue cha she
September: jiu yue (Nine Moon)
October: shi yue (Ten Moon)
November: shi yi yue (Eleven Moon)
December: shi er yue (Twelve Moon).

How boring can you get? :rolleyes: I wonder what the months of the traditional Chinese calendar were.

Seasons.
Spring: chun
Summer: xia
Autumn: qiu
Winter: dong.

Directions.
North: bei
South: nan
East: dong
West: xi.

[sub]NB: the dong of winter and the dong of east are two different characters, although they have the identical first tone.[/sub]

43

I know that John Patrick’s play was set on Okinawa, but it just seemed like fun to say it in Chinese. Anyway, I sure don’t know how to say it in Ryukyuan.

44

In Japanese, would that be hachi-gatsu no tsuki no cha ie?

45

*Months. In Finnish, the month names are refreshingly original and lovely, evocative of nature.

January: tammikuu (Oak Moon)
February: helmikuu (Pearl Moon)
March: maaliskuu
April: huhtikuu
May: toukokuu (Sowing Moon)
June: kesäkuu (Summer Moon)
July: heinäkuu (Hay Moon)
August: elokuu (Grain Moon)
September: syyskuu (Late Summer Moon)
October: lokakuu (Mud Moon)
November: marraskuu
December: joulukuu (Yule Moon).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find translations for some of them. Any Finns here can help us out?

Seasons.
Spring: kevät
Summer: kesä or suvi
Autumn: syksy
Winter: talvi.

Directions.
North: pohjoinen (from pohja ‘bottom’?)
South: etelä (related to ete- ‘forward, ahead’?)
East: itä (from itä- ‘germinate, sprout’?)
West: länsi.

46

*Months. Hebrew like Arabic has names for lunar months. The Jewish year anciently started around the spring equinox. Now it starts around the autumnal equinox. Wonder why they switched. The Jewish calendar runs on a 19-year cycle and they intercalate a 13th month every few years so as to keep the months roughly coordinate with the solar seasons.

September/October: tishri
October/November: HeshVan
November/December: kisléV
December/January: Tévét
January/February: shevaT
February/March: adar
March/April: nisan
April/May: iyar
May/June: siVan
June/July: tammuz
July/August: av
August/September: élul.

For the Gregorian calendar, Hebrew just uses the Latin months, Hebraicized: yanuar, februar, marts, april, ma’y, yuni, yuli, avgusT, sepTember, oKTober, november, detsember. Obviously borrowed via German/Yiddish.

Seasons.
Spring: aviv (related to év ‘young sprout’, aviv ‘green corn’)
Summer: Kayits
Autumn: seta
Winter: Horef

Directions.
North: tsefon (place of [sun’s] hiding)
South: darom (<?) or negev (dryness)
East: mizraH (place of sunrise) or Kedem (front)
West: ma‘arav (place of sunset).

47

*Months. Nothing special here: just the Latin months. január, február, március, április, május, etc. Hungarians, being Roman Catholics, used a lot of Latin over the centuries.

Seasons.
Spring: tavasz
Summer: nyár (related to Turkish yaz)
Autumn: õsz
Winter: tél.

Directions.
North: észak (related to éjszaka ‘night’)
South: dél (midday)
East: kelet (rising up)
West: nyugat (settling down).

48

*Months. The Lithuanian month names are, like the Finnish, totally original, unique, and lovely — expressive of nature.
January: sausis (dry)
February: vasaris (<Proto-Indo-European *wesr-, related to Persian bahâr, Sanskrit vasanta, Latin ver ‘spring’)
March: kovas (struggle, battle — of rams?)
April: balandis (dove)
May: geguZe (cuckoo)
June: birZelis (exchange; woodcutting?)
July: liepa (linden)
August: rugpiûtis (harvest reaping)
September: rugséjis (harvest sowing)
October: spalis (colorful)
November: lapkritis (leaves falling)
December: gruodis (frozen soil).

Seasons.
Spring: pavasaris (before summer)
Summer: vasara (see vasaris above)
Autumn: ruduo (red/brown)
Winter: Ziema (from Proto-Indo-European *ghim- ‘winter’, related to Russian zima ‘winter’, Persian zim ‘cold’, Sanskrit hima ‘cold, frost’ [cf. Himalaya]).

Directions.
North: šiaure
South: pietûs
East: rytai (< rytas ‘morning’)
West: vakarai (< vakaras ‘evening’.

49

*Months. The Persian year begins at the Spring Equinox, and the months are coordinated with the signs of the Zodiac. The names come from the names of Zoroastrian angels in the ancient Avestan language.

Aries (March 21-April 20): farvardin (The Door Opener)
Taurus (April 21-May 21): ordibehesht
Gemini (May 22-June 21): khordâd
Cancer (June 22-July 22): tir
Leo (July 23-August 22): mordâd
Virgo (August 23-September 22): shahrivar
Libra (September 23-October 22): mehr (Sun; Kindness < mithra)
Scorpio (October 23-November 21): âbân (Waters)
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21): âzar
Capricorn (December 22-January 20): day
Aquarius (January 21-February 19): bahman (<vohu mana ‘Good Mind’)
Pisces (February 20-March 20): esfand(yâr) (<spenta ‘Sacred, Holy’).

Afghanistan follows the same calendar, but the month names there are really cool: the actual names of the Zodiac signs, in Arabic.

Aries: Hamal
Taurus: sawr (Arabic thawr*)
Gemini: taw’am or jawzâ
Cancer: saraTân
Leo: asad
Virgo: sunbulah
Libra: mîzân
Scorpio: ‘aqrab
Sagittarius: qaws
Capricorn: jadî
Aquarius: dalw
Pisces: samak

*Taurus is either a very old loanword from Arabic to Indo-European, or a Nostratic cognate.

For the Gregorian calendar, modern Iran uses the French months: zhânviyeh, fevriyeh, mârs, etc.

Seasons.
Spring: bahâr (<Proto-Indo-European *wesr-)
Summer: tâbestan (Abode of Heat)
Autumn: pâ’iz
Winter: zemestân (Abode of Cold).

Directions.
Modern Persian uses the Arabic names: shemâl, janub, sharq, gharb. But in poetic Persian there is the word khâvar for ‘west’ which (confusingly) poets use to mean ‘east’! And the word bâkhtar (source of the name Bactria) is the same, but reversed! Go figure.

50

[tangent]Jomo Momo, you are either the world’s greatest linguist or you have entirely too much time on your hands.[/tangent]

As I said earlier, Russian months aren’t so interesting:
Yanvar,Fevral, Mart, Aprel, Mai, Iyun, Iyul, Avgust, Sintyabr, Oktyabr, Noyabr, Dekabr

the seasons:
Spring: vesna
Summer: leto
Fall: osen’
Winter: zima

directions:
North: sever
South: yug
East: vostok - rel. to voskhod (sunrise)?
West: zapad - rel. to padat’ (to fall) - sunset?

51

preview preview preview

That should, of course, have been

My apologies

52

I haven’t my dictionary so I’m afraid I can’t confirm, but I think most are (I’m hesitant mainly because of moku). (For other folks: in Japanese, the Chinese characters, or Kanji, generally have at least two readings. One is “kun-yomi,” or “native Japanese,” and the other is “on-yomi,” or “Chinese-style,” whether or not it bears the slightest resemblance to any modern Chinese language. Since the Kanji arrived in Japan ca. 550 CE, a lot may have changed. Wildly overgeneralizing, the kun-yomi tend to be longer than the on-yomi - as mentioned, the water character takes “sui” as one of its on-yomi, and “mizu” as one of its kun-yomi.)

My guess is, probably not. The Japanese cultural bias seems to be to use older, Chinese-style compounds for literary titles. Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what they might come up with.

53

*Months (mâsa). Each of the months in the Hindu lunar calendar is named for the position of the full moon in that month—so the name is for the part of the sky opposite to the sun’s position. The sky is divided into 27 or 28 nakShatras, mansions of the moon.

March/April: caitra (Bright, clear; full moon in the 12th lunar mansion, the asterism citrâ, Spica Virginis)
April/May: vaiSâkha (Branched; full moon in the 14th lunar mansion, the asterism viSâkhâ, in Libra)
May/June: jyaiShTha (Most excellent; full moon in the 16th lunar mansion, the asterism jyeShThâ)
June/July: âShâDha (Invincible; full moon in the 18th lunar mansion, the asterism aShâDhâ)
July/August: SrâvaNa (Lame; full moon in the 21st lunar mansion, the asterism SravaNa, in Aquila)
August/September: bhâdrapada (Auspicious-footed; full moon in the 24th lunar mansion, the asterism bhadrapada, in Aquila)
September/October: âSvina (Horse Rider; full moon in the 27th lunar mansion, the asterism aSvinî, head of Aries)
October/November: kârttika (Cutter; full moon in the 1st lunar mansion, the asterism k.rttikâ, the Pleiades—the six k.rttikâ were the nurses of Karttikeya, god of war; as they offered him their six breasts he became six-faced)
November/December: âgrahâyaNa (Beginning of the Year; full moon in the 3rd lunar mansion, the asterism âgrahâyaNî, in Orion)
December/January: pauSha (Flower; full moon in the 6th lunar mansion, the asterism puShya)
January/February: mâgha (Gift; full moon in the 8th lunar mansion, the asterism maghâ)
February/March: phâlguna (Red; full moon in the 10th lunar mansion, the asterism phalguni)

Seasons (.rtu). The ancient Hindu year was considered to have six seasons of two months each.
vasanta (Spring—caitra & vaiSâkhâ, March-May)
grîShma (Hot season—jyaiShTha & âShâDha, May-July)
varShâs (Rainy season—SrâvaNa & bhâdrapada, July-September)
Sarad (Autumn—âSvina & kârttika, September-November)
hemanta (Winter—âgrahâyaNa & pauSha, November-January)
SiSira (Cool season—mâgha & phâlguna, January-March).

Directions.
North: uttara (Up)
South: dakShina (Right hand; cf. Latin cognate dexter)
East: pûrva (Front)
West: paScima (Behind)
The Sanskrit directions clearly show you literally “oriented,” facing east. Instead of saying “left hand” for north, they say “up” because of the Himalaya to the north.

The Hindi months are corrupted versions of the Sanskrit names:
March/April: cait
April/May: baisâkh
May/June: jeTh
June/July: âsâRh
July/August: sâvan
August/September: bhâdom
September/October: kvâr
October/November: kârttik
November/December: agahan
December/January: pûs
January/February: mâgh
February/March: phâgun

The Vedic language is at the deepest level of antiquity of a recorded Indo-European language. Vedic months went in pairs, as there were six seasons in the Vedic year. For example, madhu and madhava form the season of vasanta. These very archaic names were used later by poets in the Classical Sanskrit period.
March/April: madhu (Sweet; Honey, Mead)
April/May: mâdhava (relating to madhu)
May/June: Sukra (Bright, Clear)
June/July: Suci (Shining, Pure)
July/August: nabhas (Mist)
August/September: nabhasya (Misty)
September/October: iSha (Juicy, Fertile)
October/November: ûrja (Vigorous)
November/December: sahas (Powerful)
December/January: sahasya (Mighty)
January/February: tapas (Austerity)
February/March: tapasya (Austere)

Sanskrit solar months are, as in Afghanistan, named after the signs of the Zodiac. All of them have the same meaning as the familiar Latin names, except for makara, which means a water monster, rather than Capricorn the Sea-Goat.
Aries: meSha
Taurus: v.rShabha
Gemini: mithuna
Cancer: karkaTa
Leo: simha
Virgo: kanyâ
Libra: tulâ
Scorpio: v.rScika
Sagittarius: dhanus
Capricorn: makara
Aquarius: kumbha
Pisces: mîna.

54

*Months (mâcam). The Tamil months are solar; some of the names are Tamilized versions of the Sanskrit names, but most are native Tamil names. Each of these begins about the 11th or 12th of the corresponding English month, so that it includes most of that month, and part of the next. To each of the months is allotted one of the 27 asterisms.
April: cittirai
May: vaikâci
June: âni
July: âTi
August: âvaNi
September: puraTTâci
October: aippaci
November: kârttikai
December: *mârkali *
January: tai
February: mâci
March: pankuni

The Tamil Zodiac:
Aries: môttai
Taurus: iTapam
Gemini: pâTavai or iraTTai
Cancer: cêkkai or ârmati or karkkaTakam
Leo: puli or cîyam or ari (oddly, ari is also the Hebrew name for Leo!)
Virgo: kanni or terivai
Libra: niruppân
Scorpio: têL
Sagittarius: câpam
Capricorn: makararâci
Aquarius: kuTam
Pisces: mîn (word for fish, of Tamil origin, borrowed by Sanskrit).

Seasons (paruvam). The six seasons of the year in Tamil are:
kâr (Cloudy—August/September)
kûtir (Cold—October/November)
munpani (Evening Dew—December/January)
pinpani (Morning Dew—February/March)
iLavênil (Milder Hot season [Spring]—April/May)
mutirvênil (Really Hot season—June/July).

Directions (ticai).
North: vaTakku (from vaTa, northern)
South: terku (from ten, southern)
East: kilakku (from kîlê, ‘down’)
West: mêrku (from mêLê, ‘up’; cf. mêl, ‘sky’).
Tamil Nadu is bounded on the east by the ocean and on the west by mountains, which makes it clear why for them East is “down” and West is “up.”

55

*Months (aylar). The Turkish months are an odd mixture of native Turkish names with Arabic and Latin names.
January: Ocak (Hearth) (T)
February: ,Subat (A)
March: Mart (L)
April: Nisan (A)
May: Mayïs (L) or Akdiken (Hawthorn)(T)
June: Haziran (A)
July: Temmuz (A)
August: AGustos (L)
September: Eylûl (A)
October: Ekim (Sowing) (T) or Birinci Te,srin (First Teshrin) (T/A)
November: Kasïm (T) or Ikinci Te,srin (Second Teshrin) (T/A)
December: Aralïk (Space in Between—referring to its position as the interval between the old year & the new) (T).

Seasons (mevsimler).
Spring: ilk bahar (Ilk is an Turkish old word for ‘first’; the word bahar is from Persian. Compare Italian & Spanish prima-vera, Lithuanian pirma pavasari, all using the word for ‘first’ with Spring).
Summer: yaz
Autumn: son bahar (Son is the Turkish word for ‘final’)
Winter: kï,s.

Directions.
North: kuzey (from an archaic Turkish word meaning ‘the northern or shadowy side of a mountain’) or ,simal (A) or yïldïz (Turkish for ‘star’, i.e. Polaris)
South: güney (from gün, ‘the Sun, day’)
East: doGu (from the verb meaning ‘to be born’)
West: batï (from the verb meaning ‘to sink’).

56

This is certainly an interesting thread. As a hijack, one thing I love to ask fundamentalist Christian groups who approach me on the street is if they know the date. When they say “Saturday, April 7th” or whatever, I point out they just invoked the names of two pagen gods!

I once heard a Jehovah’s Witness state that her religion forbade “working on Sunday.” Hmmmmm…

57

Walt Whitman used numerical month names to be actually more poetic instead of less poetic. For April he said “Fourth-Month.” I 'specks he was evoking the spirit of old Americana this way. Wasn’t it the Quakers who had tried to eliminate pagan mythology from the English language by using these numerical names for the months? Maybe Whitman’s proximity to Philadelphia influenced him to pick up a Quaker type of expression.

58

In Spanish:

Days of the week:

domingo-the first day of the week-day of the Lord(domine, domini, not sure of spelling)-Sunday
lunes- Monday
martes- Mars day- Tuesday
miércoles-Mercury’s day-Wednesday
jueves- Thursday
viernes- Friday
sábado- Saturday

Months:

enero- January
febrero- February
marzo- March
abril- April
mayo- May
junio- June
julio- July
agosto- August
septiembre/setiembre- September(it can be written both ways)
octubre- October
noviembre- November
diciembre- December

Seasons:

primavera- Spring
verano- Summer
otoño- Autumn/Fall
invierno- Winter

59

Montreiano follows similar patterns to the other Romance languages (at least Iberian):

Months:

January - Janairo
February - Feuraio
March - Março
April - Auriu
May - Maio
June - Juñio
July - Juuio
August - Agosto
September - Septèmbre
October - Oçure
November - Nouèmbre
December - Dicèmbre

Seasons:

Spring - primauera
Summer - verano
Fall - otoñio
Winter - invèrno

Directions:

North - nort
South - sur
East - ést
West - oést

60

*Days of the week (laethanta na seachtaine).
Sunday: Domhnach
Monday: Luan
Tuesday: Máirt
Wednesday: Céadaoin
Thursday: Déardaoin
Friday: Aoine
Saturday: Satharn
So for Saturday through Tuesday, the Irish borrowed Latin names. But for Wednesday through Friday, they use Irish names.

Months (míonna).
January: Eanáir
February: Feabhra
March: Márta
April: Aibreán
May: Bealtaine (from Proto-Celtic *belo-te§ina, ‘bright fire’, from Proto-Indo-European *bhel- ‘bright’, related to blue, blaze, blond, flame, black; and Proto-Indo-European *tep- ‘warm’, related to Latin tepere ‘to be warm’, Persian tâb ‘sunshine’, Sanskrit tapas ‘heat’, Irish teas ‘heat’)
June: Meitheamh (from meith ‘fat, rich, fertile’?)
July: Iúil
August: Lúnasa (something to do with dancing? Or ancient Celtic god Lugh)
September: Méan Fómhair (Mid-Autumn)
October: Deireadh Fómhair (End of Autumn)
November: Samhain (from sámh ‘rest, sleep, dream’?)
December: mí na Nollag (Month of Christmas)
January through April, plus July, have names borrowed from Latin. But the rest have Irish names. Recognize Beltane and Samhain? You thought those were just Wiccan festivals? Good Catholics in Ireland use the names too.

Seasons (séasúr).
Spring: earrach
Summer: samhradh (from Proto-Indo-European *sem- or *samos ‘summer, year’, related to Sanskrit *samâ/i] ‘year’, English summer)
Autumn: fómhar
Winter: geimhreadh (from Proto-Indo-European *ghim- ‘cold’, related to Lithuanian Ziema, Russian zima, Persian zemestân, Sanskrit hemanta, ‘winter’)

Directions.
North: tuaisceart (from tuathal, ‘left hand, against the sun’)
South: deisceart (from deis, ‘right hand, with the sun’, related to Latin dexter, Sanskrit dakShiNa, from Proto-Indo-European *deks-)
East: oirthear (related to Irish éirí ‘to rise, sunrise’, Latin oriri ‘to rise’, from Proto-Indo-European er- ‘to set in motion’, related to English are, river, run)
West: iarthar (from iar- 'after, back, behind, later).