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Slavic calendar

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While many Slavic languages officially use Latin-derived names for the months of the year in the Gregorian calendar, there is also a set of older names for the twelve months that differs from the Latin month names, as they are of Slavic origin. In some languages, such as the Serbian language these traditional names have since been archaized and are thus seldom used. In the case of Bulgarian, old Slavic month names should be declared official for Bulgarian starting from April 2020, joining together with the non-Latin month names of Ukrainian, Polish, Belarusian, Czech and Croatian.

The original names of the months of the year in the Slavic languages closely follow natural occurrences such as weather patterns and conditions common for that period, as well as agricultural activities.

Many months have several alternative names in different regions.

Names

Comparison of the traditional names for the twelve months in different Slavic languages[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Language January February March April May June July August September October November December
Belarusian Студзень
(Studzień)
Люты
(Luty)
Сакавік
(Sakavik)
Красавік
(Krasavik)
Травень
(Travień)
Чэрвень
(Červień)
Ліпень
(Lipień)
Жнівень
(Žnivień)
Верасень
(Vierasień)
Кастрычнік
(Kastryčnik)
Лістапад
(Listapad)
Снежань
(Śniežań)
Bulgarian Сечен
Sechen
Люти
Lyuti
Сухи
Sukhi
Брезен
Brezen
Тревен
Treven
Изок
Izok
Червен
Cherven
Зарев
Zarev
Руен
Ruen
Листопад
Listopad
Груден
Gruden
Просинец
Prosinets
Croatian siječanj veljača ožujak travanj svibanj lipanj srpanj kolovoz rujan listopad studeni prosinac
Czech leden únor březen duben květen červen červenec srpen září říjen listopad prosinec
Macedonian (archaic) Коложег
Koložeg
Сечко
Sečko
Цутар
Cutar
Тревен
Treven
Косар
Kosar
Жетвар
Žetvar
Златец
Zlatec
Житар
Žitar
Гроздобер
Grozdober
Листопад
Listopad
Студен
Studen
Снежник
Snežnik
Polish styczeń luty marzec kwiecień maj czerwiec lipiec sierpień wrzesień październik listopad grudzień
Russian (archaic) Сечень
Secheń
Лютый
Lyutyy
Березозол
Berezozol
Цветень
Tsveteń
Травень
Traveń
Червень
Cherveń
Липец
Lipets
Серпень
Serpeń
Вересень
Vereseń
Листопад
Listopad
Грудень
Grudeń
Студень
Studeń
Serbian (archaic) Коложег
Koložeg
Сечко
Sečko
Дерикожа
Derikoža
Лежитрава
Ležitrava
Цветањ
Cvetanj
Трешњар
Trešnjar
Жетвар
Žetvar
Гумник
Gumnik
Гроздобер
Grozdober
Листопад
Listopad
Студен
Studen
Коледар
Koledar
Sorbian wulki róžk mały róžk nalětnik jutrownik róžownik smažnik pražnik žnjenc požnjenc winowc nazymnik hodownik
Slovene (archaic) prosinec svečan sušec mali traven veliki traven rožnik mali srpan veliki srpan kimavec vinotok listopad gruden
Ukrainian Січень
Sicheń
Лютий
Lyutyy
Березень
Berezeń
Квітень
Kviteń
Травень
Traveń
Червень
Cherveń
Липень
Lypeń
Серпень
Serpeń
Вересень
Vereseń
Жовтень
Zhovteń
Листопад
Lystopad
Грудень
Hrudeń
Polabian Ledemån Rüzac Zürmån Chåidemån Laisemån Pąťustemån Zeminik Haimån Jisinmån Vaińamån Zaimamån Trübnemån

Croatian months

The Croatian months used with the Gregorian calendar by Croats differ from the original Latin month names:

No. Latin name English name Croatian name Croatian meaning
1 Ianuarius January Siječanj month of cutting or hewing (wood), but there are also dialectal terms 'svečan, svičen, sičan' that have a meaning 'festive', so there is a possibility of a meaning 'festive month' (as there are several holidays celebrated in January)[8]
2 Februarius February Veljača month in which days become longer (oveljiti se = to get bigger);[9] also, possibly from "Velja Noć" (Great Night), old Slavic pagan festival that falls in modern-day February
3 Martius March Ožujak lying month (laž>ož; laž = a lie), because the weather is changing often
4 Aprilis April Travanj month of grass growing[permanent dead link]
5 Maius May Svibanj month of budding (svibovina = Cornel tree)
6 Iunius June Lipanj month of the lipa[permanent dead link] (lime / linden tree)
7 Iulius July Srpanj month of reaping (with a sickle)[permanent dead link]
8 Augustus August Kolovoz month of driving the wagon (for harvest) — kolo + voziti
9 September September Rujan month of animal mating (from archaic verb for animal roar "rjuti", referencing mating calls)
10 October October Listopad month of falling leaves — list + padati
11 November November Studeni cold month
12 December December Prosinac the beginning of the Sun's shining (sinuti = to dawn);[10] probably used for January at first, as it's still often used for that month in other Slavic languages. Also, less probably month of begging (for food, f.e.), from prositi = to beg.

Some names are derived from archaic Croatian-Slavic words that are no longer found in standard Croatian dictionaries. In some cases even the meaning of those words is ambiguous.

In Macedonian, Listopad is also the (archaic) name for October but Polish/Czech listopad, Belarusian 'listapad' ('Лістапад') and Ukrainian "листопад" mean November. Likewise, Polish sierpień, Czech srpen and Ukrainian Серпень mean August rather than July, Czech říjen means October rather than September, Slovenian prosinec means January rather than December, and Polish lipiec, Belarusian Лiпень, and Ukrainian Липень mean July rather than June.

Czech months

The names of Czech months are, as in Polish, Croatian, Ukrainian and Belarusian not based on the Latin names used in most European languages. The suffix -en is added to most of the months' names.

  • January -- leden (from led, ice)
  • February -- únor (probably from the word root -nor-, infinitive form nořit (se), to plunge, to welter, as the ice welters under the lake surface)
  • March -- březen (either from bříza, birch, or from březí, gravid, with young etc., as the forest animals, mainly hares and rabbits, are pregnant at that time)[11]
  • April -- duben (derived from dub, oak)
  • May -- květen (from květ, blossom), originally máj. The word květen first appeared in Jungmann's translation of Atala from 1805 as a poetism and translation for French lune de fleurs (month of flowers), but quickly gained acceptance. Jungmann was probably also influenced by the Polish word kwiecień ("April").
  • June -- červen (either from červený, red, or from červ, worm, both related to fruit)
  • July -- červenec (the same as červen with a diminutive suffix ec)
  • August -- srpen (from srp, sickle)
  • September -- září (lit. "it shines", but most likely from říje (rutting), the time when the - mainly deer - males want to couple)
  • October -- říjen (from říje, see September)
  • November -- listopad (literally "leaf-fall")
  • December -- prosinec (either from prosit to beg, or to ask for one's hand in marriage,[citation needed] to ask, to plead, but more probably from prosinalý, pallid, because the sky is usually pallid at this time)

Macedonian months

The Macedonian language has two sets of names of the months of the Gregorian calendar. The most commonly used set of names is derived from the Latin month names and these are used by the vast majority of the Macedonian population. However, there is also a set of older names for the twelve months of Slavic origin that differ from the Latin month names, although their usage is archaized and largely restricted to folk literature and religious calendars issued by the Macedonian Orthodox Church.

The origin of the Macedonian month names is closely related to the agricultural activities that occur in the corresponding period, or to the weather condition common for that period. Some months have alternative names in different regions. The usage of modern Latin month names among Macedonians started towards the end of the 19th century, as a result of mass education.

No. Latin name English name Macedonian Cyrillic Macedonian Latin Old Macedonian name Transliteration Meaning
1. Ianuarius January Јануари Januari Коложег Koložeg Month of burning tree trunks
2. Februarius February Февруари Fevruari Сечко Sečko Month of ice
3. Martius March Март Mart Цутар Cutar Month of blossoming
4. Aprilis April Април April Тревен Treven Month of grass
5. Maius May Мај Maj Косар Kosar Time of flowering grasses and shrubs
6. Iunius June Јуни Juni Жетвар Žetvar Time of maturity of the first yield of fruits
7. Iulius July Јули Juli Златец Zlatec Golden month
8. Augustus August Август Avgust Житар Žitar Month of wheat
9. September September Септември Septemvri Гроздобер Grozdober Month of harvesting grapes
10. October October Октомври Oktomvri Листопад Listopad Month of leaves falling
11. November November Ноември Noemvri Студен Studen Month of cold
12. December December Декември Dekemvri Снежник Snežnik Month of snow

See also

References

  1. ^ Nedeljković, Mile (September 1998). "Zimski znak vatre letnji znak sunca i Perunova munja" [Winter fire symbol, summer sun symbol, and lightning of Perun]. Srpsko nasleđe (in Serbian) (9). Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. ^ Nedeljković, Mile; Karadžić, Vuk (1990). Godišnji običaji u Srba [Annual traditions of the Serbs] (in Serbian). Belgrade.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Jovanović, Stanoje, ed. (1999). Jezici podunavskih zemalja (i ruski) [Languages of the Danube countries (and Russia)]. Belgrade: YU Marketing Press and Verzalpress. OCLC 443031481.
  4. ^ Gleichova, Jarmila; Jenikova, Anna (1982). Česko-srbocharvatsky a srbocharvatsko-česky slovnik na cesty [Czech–Serbo-Croatian/Serbo-Croatian–Czech travel dictionary] (in Czech). Prague: Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi.
  5. ^ Menac, Antica; Kovalʹ, Alla P. (1979). Hrvatsko ili srpsko-ukrajinski rječnik [Croatian/Serbian–Ukrainian dictionary]. Zagreb: SNL. OCLC 800783862.
  6. ^ Serbska protyka [Sorbian calendar]. Bautzen: Domowina. 1968.
  7. ^ Јacanović, Dragan (2000). Srpsko kalendarsko znanje u epskim narodnim pesmama [Serbian calendar knowledge in folk epic poetry] (in Serbian). Rača.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ "NAZIV MJESECI U GODINI NA HRVATSKOM". hamdočamo. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  9. ^ "veljača | Hrvatska enciklopedija". www.enciklopedija.hr. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  10. ^ "prosinac | Hrvatska enciklopedija". www.enciklopedija.hr. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  11. ^ Machek, 1968, in Václav Machek, Etymologický slovník jazyka českého, second edition, Academia, 1968