About half of the people in the world start their week with Sunday, and about half the people in the world (not the same half) start their week with Monday. A few people -- millions, actually, but I'm speaking relatively -- start their week with Friday or Saturday. In many languages the days are named after objects in the heavens (sun, moon), Norse deities (Tye, Odin, Thor, Frigg), or Roman deities (Mars, Mercury, Jove, Venus, Saturn) that also became the names of objects in the heavens. For example, Thursday is named after Thor, the Norse god of lightning, thunder, and storms. It becomes Donnerstag (Donner's day) in German for Donner, god of thunder. A rabbit trail here, the names of two of Santa Claus's reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, are the German words for thunder and lightning. Also, the Germans chose not to honor the Norse god Odin but to call that particular day Mittwoch (midweek) instead.
In the table below, I have begun with the commom abbreviated forms of the days of the week in English.
English: | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat | Sun |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swedish: | måndag | tiesdag | onsdag | torsdag | fredag | lördag | söndag |
French: | lundi | mardi | mercredi | jeudi | vendredi | samedi | dimanche |
Spanish: | Lunes | Martes | Mièrcoles | Jueves | Viernes | Sàbado | Domingo |
German: | Montag | Dienstag | Mittwoch | Donnerstag | Freitag | Samstag | Sonntag |
Italian: | lunedi | martedi | mercoledi | giovedi | venerdi | sabato | domenica |
In Albanian, the days of the week are E hënë, E martë, E mërkurë, E enjte, E premte, E shtunë, and E diel. Mars and Mercury are discernible, but something else has happened as well.
In Polish, the days of the week are poniedziałek, wtorek, środa, czwąrtek, piatek, sobota, and niedziela.
In Hawaiian, the days of the week are Po'akahi, Po'alua, Po'akolu, Po'aha, Po'alima, Po'aono, and Lapule.
In Swahili, the days of the week are Jumamosi, Jumapili, Jumatatu, Jumanne, Jumatano, Alhamisi, and Ijumaa.
Did you know there are three systems, all acceptable, for saying "Monday" in Mandarin Chinese? Well, there are. Using Pinyin (romanization of the Mandarin ideographs), they are xīngqī yī, zhōu yī, and libài yī. If in those three phrases you were to replace yī with èr, sān, sì, wù, and liù you would have just indicated three ways to say Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, respectively, in Mandarin Chinese. It is interesting to note that Mandarin does not honor any deity at all; what one actually says is "Day 1" through "Day 6".
In each of the three acceptable ways of indicating days of the week in Mandarin (xīngqī, zhōu, libài) there are two words, neither of which means 7, that one can use to indicate Sunday: rì and tiān. It is therefore entirely accurate and within reason, when you consider that 3 × 2 = 6, to conclude that trying to learn Mandarin Chinese will knock you six ways from Sunday.
Now you've got me thinking about a very long time ago. How did they start grouping seven days together as a unit? Many yearly things were observed such as solstice
ReplyDeleteRed, I believe both the Chinese and Hebrew calendars were based on lunar months (the repetetive phases of the moon that they took note of over undoubtedly long periods of time) and seasonal changes (spring, summer, fall, winter) that led to a 365-day year at some point, but I have no idea why a 7-day week was settled upon. I suspect Genesis chapter 1 had something to do with it but that's just a guess. (Six days God worked to create and on the seventh day He rested). The solstices have been known about from at least the time of the Druids (Stonehenge). Thanks for commenting.
DeleteHow to learn them in French: sing to the tune of 'The Camptown Ladies'
ReplyDeleteLundi mardi mercredi
Jeudi jeudi
Jeudi vendredi samedi
Samedi dimanche
That's a new one on me, Tasker, although I do know colors in Spanish based on "The Mexican Hat Dance" and the names of the 12 disciples based on "Jesus Loves Me"....thanks for commenting!
DeleteRemembered it correctly now.
ReplyDeleteLundi mardi mercredi
Jeudi jeudi
Lundi mardi mercredi
Jeudi vendredi
Samedi dimanche
Samedi dimanche
Lundi mardi mercredi
Jeudi vendredi
Ah., Makes more sense musically now. Thanks for the update.
DeleteYou make learning interesting. (Down by the seaside sifting sand.)
ReplyDeleteEmma, what a wonderful thing to hear. You are very kind. Thanks for commenting (Even little children love Mary Ann).
DeleteI can't believe that I not only read every word of that but even tried to understand and figure some of it out. I think that the Mandarin week was the final straw,
ReplyDeleteGraham, I'm sorry if it wasn't a pleasant experience for you. I do not understand your frustration and apparent disgust. I thought the final sentence was the piece de resistance (translation: cat's meow) personally, but that's just me. Thanks for commenting, Graham. All comments are valuable comments.
DeleteI'm sorry, Bob. My original comment was very much longer and disappeared so I just reduced it considerably. Far too much reduction and far too considerably obviously. I didn't say or mean that it wasn't a pleasant experience. It was just mental exercise that was rather beyond me. These days there's a great deal of mental exercise that is beyond me. Like deciding what to cook for my dinner.
Delete