Weekday names

Weekday names

The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient Indian Astrology which could arguably be the origin of all these naming systems. All of these systems have been adopted in many languages, with some exceptions resulting from a number of religious and secular considerations.

Contents

Weekdays named after planets

History

Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. The astrological order of the days was explained by Vettius Valens and Dio Cassius (and Chaucer gave the same explanation in his Treatise on the Astrolabe). According to these authors, it was a principle of astrology that the heavenly bodies presided, in succession, over the hours of the day. The Ptolemaic system asserts that the order of the heavenly bodies, from the farthest to the closest to the Earth, is: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. (This order was first established by the Greek Stoics.)

In astrological theory, not only the days of the week, but the hours of the day are dominated by the seven luminaries. If the first hour of a day is dominated by Saturn (Saturn), then the second hour is dominated by Jupiter (Jupiter), the third by Mars (Mars), and so on with the Sun (Sun), Venus (Venus), Mercury (Mercury), and the moon (Moon), so that the sequence of planets repeats every seven hours. Therefore, the twenty-fifth hour, which is the first hour of the following day, is dominated by the Sun; the forty-ninth hour, which is the first hour of the next day, by the Moon. Thus, if a day is labelled by the planet which dominates its first hour, then Saturn's day is followed by the Sun's day, which is followed by the Moon's day, and so forth, as shown below.

According to Vettius Valens, the first hour of the day began at sunset, which follows Greek and Babylonian convention. He also states that the light and dark halves of the day were presided over by the heavenly bodies of the first hour of each half. This is confirmed by a Pompeian graffito which calls 6 February 60 a Sunday, even though by modern reckoning it is a Wednesday. Thus this graffito used the daylight naming convention of Valens whereas the nighttime naming convention of Valens agrees with the modern astrological reckoning, which names the day after the ruler of the first daylight hour.

These two overlapping weeks continued to be used by Alexandrian Christians during the 4th century, but the days in both were simply numbered 1–7. Although names of gods were not used, the week beginning on Wednesday was named in Greek ton theon ([day] of the gods), as used by the late fourth-century editor of the Easter letters of Bishop Athanasius, and in a table of Easter dates for 311–369 that survives in an Ethiopic copy. These overlapping weeks are still used in the Ethiopic computus. Each of the days of the week beginning on Sunday is called a "Day of John" whereas each of the days of the week beginning on Wednesday is called a "tentyon", a simple transcription of the Greek ton theon.

Hour: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Stellar Object → Day
Day 1 Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Saturn → Saturday
Day 2 Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Sun → Sunday
Day 3 Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Moon → Monday
Day 4 Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mars → Tuesday
Day 5 Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Mercury → Wednesday
Day 6 Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Jupiter → Thursday
Day 7 Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Venus → Friday

Greco-Roman tradition

The earliest attestation of a seven day week associated with heavenly luminaries are from Vettius Valens, an astrologer writing ca 170 AD in his Anthologiarum. The order was Sun, Moon, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronos. From Greece the planetary week names passed to the Romans, and from Latin to other languages of southern and western Europe, and to other languages later influenced by them.

Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sōl (Sun)
Monday
Luna (English: Moon)
Tuesday
Mars (Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius (Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter (Jupiter)
Friday
Venus (Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus (Saturn)
Ancient Greek ἡμέρα Ἡλίου
heméra Helíou
ἡμέρα Σελήνης
heméra Selénes
ἡμέρα Ἄρεως
heméra Áreos
ἡμέρα Ἕρμου
heméra Hérmou
ἡμέρα Διός
heméra Diós
ἡμέρα Ἀφροδίτης
heméra Aphrodítes
ἡμέρα Κρόνου
heméra Krónou
Latin dies Sōlis dies Lūnae dies Martis dies Mercuriī dies Jovis dies Veneris dies Saturnī
Italian domenica [☉1] lunedì martedì mercoledì giovedì venerdì sabato [♄1]
Portuguese domingo segunda-feira terça-feira quarta-feira quinta-feira sexta-feira sábado
Spanish domingo [☉1] lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado [♄1]
Romanian duminică [☉1] luni marţi miercuri joi vineri sâmbătă [♄1]
French dimanche [☉1] lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi samedi [♄1]
Galician domingo [☉1] luns martes mércores xoves venres sábado [♄1]
Catalan diumenge [☉1] dilluns dimarts dimecres dijous divendres dissabte [♄1]
Friulian domenie [☉1] lunis martars miercus joibe vinars sabide [♄1]
Sardinian dominiga [☉1] lunis martis mercuris giobia chenabura sappadu [♄1]
Interlingua Dominica [☉1] Lunedi Martedi Mercuridi Jovedi Venerdi Sabbato [♄1]
Ido Sundio Lundio Mardio Merkurdio Jovdio Venerdio Saturdio Ido dicationary
Esperanto dimanĉo [☉1] lundo mardo merkredo ĵaŭdo vendredo sabato [♄1]
Irish An Domhnach [☉1]
Dé Domhnaigh
An Luan
Dé Luain
An Mháirt
Dé Máirt
An Chéadaoin [☿2]
Dé Céadaoin
An Déardaoin [♃1]
Déardaoin
An Aoine [♀1]
Dé hAoine
An Satharn
Dé Sathairn
Scots Gaelic Di-Dòmhnaich [☉1] Di-Luain Di-Màirt Di-Ciadain [☿2] Di-Ardaoin [♃1] Di-Haoine [♀1] Di-Sàthairne
Welsh dydd Sul dydd Llun dydd Mawrth dydd Mercher dydd Iau dydd Gwener dydd Sadwrn
Cornish Dy Sul Dy Lun Dy Meurth Dy Mergher Dy Yow Dy Gwener Dy Sadorn
Breton Di'sul Di'lun Di'meurzh Di'merc’her Di'riaou Di'gwener Di'sadorn
Manx Jedoonee [☉1] Jelune Jemayrt Jecrean Jerdrein Jeheiney Jesarn
Albanian E diel E hënë E martë E mërkurë E enjte E premte E shtunë
Tagalog Linggo [☉1] Lunes Martes Miyerkules Huwebes Biyernes Sabado [♃1]

Gaelic-Irish traditions

In pre-Christian Gaelic-Irish society, time was measured in "one-, three-, five-, ten-, or fifteen-day periods; the seven-day week was entirely unknown." (Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, 2003, p. 7). MS. 17, dating from at least 1043, is now held at St. John's College, Oxford. It records five week-day lists, which it names as follows: secundum Hebreos ('Hebrew' days); secundum antiquos gentiles (Roman days of the week);secundum Siluestrum papam (a list derived from the apocryphal Acta Syluestri); secundum Anglos (Anglo-Saxon week-days); secundum Scottos (days of the week 'according to the Irish'). Each term begins with the word Diu, Classical Old Irish for dia, day. Diu, according to Ó Cróinín, "we have a clear reflex of the Indo-European nominative singular, with a lenghtened grade, giving arhaic Old Irish diu; it is suggested that what we have in the Oxford list and in Cormac's Glossary is the oldest form of Old Irish dia, representing the old nominative case of the noun in adverbial usage." (Ó Cróinín, 2003, p. 12).

The names in the Irish list are:

  • dies scrol - Sunday. The word scrol is glossed in Sanas Cormaic as Scroll .i. soillsi, unde est aput Scottos diu srol .i. dies solis/Sroll, that is brightness, when 'diu srol' among the Irish, that is Sunday.
  • Diu luna - Monday. Ó Cróinín has Diu luna as "represent[ing] the transitioal form between Latin dies lunae and the later, Classical Old Irish dia luain ... a translation of, not a calque on, the Latin ... [It] would seem to reflect a pre-assimilation state in respect of both words" (2003, p. 13), again demonstrating the antiquity of the forms. It is now rendered as Dia luain, Monday.
  • Diu mart - Tuesday. "The Irish word perhaps derives from Latin forms where cases other than the genetive were used, e.g., Marte." (2003, p. 15)
  • Diu iath - Wednesday. A form unique to Irish, meaning uncertain. See following.
  • Diu eathamon - Thursday. A form unique to Irish. Ó Cróinín writes "I suggest that it means simply 'on Thursday' ... it is temporal dat. of an n-stem (nom. sg. etham, gen. sg. ethamon - as in our Oxford list - and acc./dat. sg. ethamain)." (2003, p. 17) He furthermore suggests that etham ('arable land') "may be a noun of agency from ith (gen. sg. etho), with a meaning like corn-maker or some such thing; Diu eathamon might then be a day for sowing seed in a weekly regimen of activities such as we find in Críth Gablach." (2003, p. 17). A "very old" word for Wednesday, Mercúir (borrowed from the Latin (dies) Mercurii), does occur in early Leinster poems but Ó Cróinín is of the belief that Diu eathamon "reflects a still older Irish word for 'Wednesday';".
  • Diu triach - Friday. A form unique to Irish, its meaning unclear.
  • Diu satur - Saturday. Error for Diu Saturn, because of omission of the n-stroke.

The form Ethomuin is found in Rawlinson B 502.

Germanic languages

The Germanic peoples adapted the system introduced by the Romans but glossed their indigenous gods over the Roman deities (with the exception of Saturday) in a process known as Interpretatio germanica. The date of the introduction of this system is not known exactly, but it must have happened later than AD 200 but before the introduction of Christianity during the 6th to 7th centuries, i.e. during the final phase or soon after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.[1] This period is later than the Common Germanic stage, but still during the phase of undifferentiated West Germanic. The weekday names in Scandinavian languages were not calqued from Latin directly, but taken from the West Germanic names.

  • Sunday: Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [sun.nan.dæg] or [sun.nan.dæj), meaning "sun's day". This is a translation of the Latin phrase dies Solis. English, like most of the Germanic languages, preserves the original pagan/sun associations of the day. Many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed its name to the equivalent of "the Lord's day" (based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica). Compare: Spanish and Portuguese domingo, French dimanche, Romanian duminică, Italian domenica and Irish domhnach. In both West Germanic and North Germanic mythology the sun is personified as a goddess, Sunna/Sól.
  • Monday: Old English Mōnandæg (pronounced [mon.nan.dæg] or [mon.nan.dæj'), meaning "moon's day". This is likely based on a translation of the Latin name dies lunae (cf. Romance language versions of the name, e.g., French lundi, Spanish lunes, Romanian luni, Italian lunedì, Irish luan). In North Germanic mythology, the moon is personified as a god, Máni.
  • Tuesday: Old English Tīwesdæg (pronounced [ti.wes.dæg] or [ti.wes.dæj], meaning "Tiw's day." Tiw (Norse Týr) was a one-handed god associated with single combat and pledges in Norse mythology and also attested prominently in wider Germanic paganism. The name of the day is based on Latin dies Martis, "Day of Mars" (the Roman war god); compare: French mardi, Spanish martes, Romanian marţi, Italian martedì and Irish mairt.
  • Wednesday: Old English Wōdnesdæg (pronounced [woːd.nes.dæg] or [woːd.nes.dæj) meaning the day of the Germanic god Wodan (later known as Óðinn among the North Germanic peoples), and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons (and other Germanic peoples) in England until about the seventh century. It is based on Latin dies Mercurii, "Day of Mercury"; compare: French mercredi, Spanish miércoles, Romanian miercuri and Italian mercoledì. The connection between Mercury and Odin is more strained than the other syncretic connections. The usual explanation is that both Wodan and Mercury were considered psychopomps, or leaders of souls, in their respective mythologies; both are also associated with poetic and musical inspiration. The Icelandic Miðviku, German Mittwoch and Finnish keskiviikko all mean 'mid-week'.
  • Thursday: Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [θuːn.res.dæg] or [θuːn.res.dæj]), meaning the Þunor's day. Þunor is commonly known in Modern English as Thor, the god of thunder in Germanic Paganism. Old High German's name for Þunor, Donar, leads to Donnerstag. (The modern German word for "thunder" is still Donner.) The day is based on the Latin dies Iovis, "day of Jupiter"; compare: French jeudi, Spanish jueves, Romanian joi and Italian giovedì. In the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was the chief god, who seized and maintained his power on the basis of his thunderbolt (Fulmen).
  • Friday: Old English Frīgedæg (pronounced [fri.je.dæg] or [fri.je.dæj]), meaning the day of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Fríge. The Norse name for the planet Venus was Friggjarstjarna, 'Frigg's star'. It is based on the Latin dies Veneris, "Day of Venus"; compare: French vendredi, Spanish viernes, Romanian vineri and Italian venerdì. Venus was the Roman goddess of beauty, love and sex.
  • Saturday: the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians. Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg (pronounced [sæ.tur.nes.dæg] or [sæ.tur.nes.dæj]). In Latin it was dies Saturni, "Day of Saturn"; compare French samedi. The Spanish and Portuguese sábado, the Romanian sâmbătă, and the Italian sabato come from Sabbata dies (Day of the Sabbath). The Scandinavian Lørdag/Lördag deviates significantly as it has no reference to the old norse gods, the latin gods nor the roman gods. It derives from old norse laugardagr, which literary translates to washing-day.
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sunna/Sól
Monday
Mona/Máni
Tuesday
Tiw/Tyr
Wednesday
Woden/Odin
Thursday
Thunor/Thor
Friday
Frige or Freya
Saturday
Saturn
Old English Sunnandæg Mōnandæg Tīwesdæg Wōdnesdæg Þunresdæg Frīgedæg Sæternesdæg
Old High German Sunnûntag Mânetag Zîestag Wôdanstag (Wuotanstag) Donarestag Frîjatag Sunnûnâband or Sambaztag [♄1]
German Sonntag Montag Dienstag [♂1] or Ziestag (Swiss German) Mittwoch [☿1] Donnerstag Freitag Sonnabend [♄3] or Samstag [♄1]
Dutch zondag maandag dinsdag [♂1] woensdag donderdag vrijdag zaterdag
Afrikaans Sondag Maandag Dinsdag [♂1] Woensdag Donderdag Vrydag Saterdag
West Frisian Snein Moandei Tiisdei Woansdei Tongersdei Freed Sneon[♄3] or Saterdei
Old Norse sunnudagr mánadagr tysdagr óðinsdagr þórsdagr frjádagr laugardagr [♄2] or sunnunótt
Faroese sunnudagur mánadagur týsdagur mikudagur  hósdagur or tórsdagur fríggjadagur leygardagur
Icelandic sunnudagur mánudagur þriðjudagur miðvikudagur fimmtudagur föstudagur laugardagur
Norwegian, Bokmål søndag mandag tirsdag onsdag torsdag fredag lørdag [♄2]
Norwegian, Nynorsk sundag måndag tysdag onsdag torsdag fredag laurdag [♄2]
Danish søndag mandag tirsdag onsdag torsdag fredag lørdag [♄2]
Swedish söndag måndag tisdag onsdag torsdag fredag lördag [♄2]
Finnish sunnuntai maanantai tiistai keskiviikko [☿1] torstai perjantai lauantai [♄2]
Estonian pühapäev [☉2] reede laupäev [♄2]

Indian astrology

The Greco-Roman scheme of planetary names was also adopted into Indian astrology during the 2nd century AD. Sanskrit attestations of the navagraha "nine astrological forces", seven of which are used for day names, date to the Yavanajataka "Sayings of the Greeks", a 150 AD translation of a 120 AD Greek Alexandrian text.

This was probably the oldest and the most original tradition which traveled through ambassadors to the Near East and beyond into Europe. This forms the basis of week day names in most Indian languages and the languages of South Asia and South East Asia.

Though the explanation on the sequence of the name is only available in ancient texts in India. Which goes as below,

The division of days among the planets was done based on the speed of each planet as perceived from earth. Sun and Moon being the nearest and most important planets were allotted first two days and then the planet next in sequence to the original position of the planet was given the next day.. The sequence based on speed is Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

So after Sunday and Monday, the next to Sun was Mars hence the day was 'Mangalwar', next to moon was Mercury and hence 'Budhawar' next Mars was Jupiter and hence Guruwar , next to Mercury was Venus and hence ‘Shukrawar’ , next to Jupiter was Saturn and hence ‘Shaniwar’ and thus the seven names in this particular sequence.

Day Sunday
Surya (the Sun)
Monday
Soma (the Moon)
Tuesday
Mangala (Mars)
Wednesday
Budha (Mercury)
Thursday
Guru (Jupiter)
Friday
Shukra (Venus)
Saturday
Shani (Saturn)
Sanskrit भानुवासरम्
Bhaanu Vāsaram
इन्दुवासरम्
Indu Vāsaram
भौमवासरम्
Bhauma Vāsaram
सौम्यवासरम्
Saumya Vāsaram
गुरूवासरम
Bruhaspathi/Guru Vāsaram
भृगुवासरम्
Bhrgu Vāsaram
स्थिरवासरम्
Sthira Vāsaram
Hindi रविवार
Ravivār
सोमवार
Somavār
मंगलवार
Mangalavār
बुधवार
Budhavār
गुरूवार
Guruvār
शुक्रवार
Shukravār
शनिवार
Shanivār
Sinhala ඉරිදා
Iridaa
සදුදා
Sandudaa
අඟහරැවදා
Anngaharuwadaa
බදාදා
Badaadaa
බූරහස්පතින්දා
Brahaspathindaa
සිකුරාදා
Sikuradaa
සෙනසුරාදා
Senasuraadaa
Marathi रविवार
Ravivār
सोमवार
Somavār
मंगळवार
MangaLavār
बुधवार
Budhavār
गुरूवार
Guruvār
शुक्रवार
Shukravār
शनिवार
Shanivār
Bengali রবিবার
Robibar
সোমবার
Shombar
মঙ্গলবার
Monggolbar
বুধবার
Budhbar
বৃহস্পতিবার
Brihôshpotibar
শুক্রবার
Shukrobar
শনিবার
Shonibar
Urdu Itwaar اتوار Peer پیر[☽4] or Somwar سوموار Mangal منگل Budh بدھ Jumaa-raat جمعراتRaat = Eve Jumaah جمعہ[♀4] Saneechar سنیچرor ہفتہ Haftah [♄6]
Burmese တနင်္ဂနွေ
IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ ɡənwè]
(Tananganve)
တနင်္လာ
IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ là]
(Tanangla)
အင်္ဂါ
IPA: [ɪ̀ɴ ɡà]
(Angga)
ဗုဒ္ဓဟူး
IPA: [bouʔ dəhú]
(Buddhahu)
(afternoon=new day)
ရာဟု
Rahu
ကြာသာပတေး
IPA: [tɕà ðà bədé]
(Krasapate)
သောကြာ
IPA: [θauʔ tɕà]
(Saukra)
စနေ
IPA: [sənè]
(Cane)
Mon တ္ၚဲ အဒိုတ်
[ŋoa ətɜ̀t]
from Sans. āditya
တ္ၚဲ စန်
[ŋoa cɔn]
from Sans. candra
တ္ၚဲ အၚါ
[ŋoa əŋɛ̀a]
from Sans. aṅgāra
တ္ၚဲ ဗုဒ္ဓဝါ
[oa pùt-həwɛ̀a]
from Sans. budhavāra
တ္ၚဲ ဗြဴဗ္တိ
[ŋoa pɹɛ̀apətɔeʔ]
from Sans. bṛhaspati
တ္ၚဲ သိုက်.
[ŋoa sak]
from Sans. śukra
တ္ၚဲ သ္ၚိ သဝ်
[ŋoa hɔeʔ sɔ]
from Sans. śani
Khmer ថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ
[tŋaj ʔaatɨt]
ថ្ងៃចន្ទ
[tŋaj can]
ថ្ងៃអង្គារ
[tŋaj ʔɑŋkie]
ថ្ងៃពុធ
[tŋaj put]
ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បត្ណិ
[tŋaj prɔhoah]
ថ្ងៃសុក្រ
[tŋaj sok]
ថ្ងៃសៅរ៍
[tŋaj sav]
Gujarati રવિવાર
Ravivār
સોમવાર
Somvār
મંગળવાર
Mangaḷvār
બુધવાર
Budhvār
ગુરૂવાર
Guruvār
શુક્રવાર
Shukravār
શનિવાર
Shanivār
Maldivian އާދީއްތަ
Aadheettha
ހޯމަ
Homa
އަންގާރަ
Angaara
ބުދަ
Budha
ބުރާސްފަތި
Buraasfathi
ހުކުރު
Hukuru
ހޮނިހިރު
Honihiru
Tamil ஞாயிற்று கிழமை
Nyāyitru kizhamai
திங்கட் கிழமை
Thingat kizhamai
செவ்வாய்க் கிழமை
Sevvāi kizhamai
புதன்க் கிழமை
Budhan kizhamai
வியாழக் கிழமை
Vyāzha kizhamai
வெள்ளிக் கிழமை
Velli kizhamai
சனிக் கிழமை
Shani kizhamai
Telugu ఆదివారం
Aadi Vāram
సోమవారం
Soma Vāram
మంగళవారం
Mangala Vāram
బుధవారం
Budha Vāram
గురువారం
Bestha/Guru/Lakshmi Vāram
శుక్రవారం
Shukra Vāram
శనివారం
Shani Vāram
Malayalam ഞായര്‍
Njyāyar
തിങ്കള്‍
Thingal
ചൊവ്വ
Chouvva
ബുധന്‍
Budhan
വ്യാഴം
Vzyāzham
വെള്ളി
Velli
ശനി
Sheni
Kannada ಭಾನುವಾರ
Bhanu Vaara
ಸೋಮವಾರ
Soma Vaara
ಮಂಗಳವಾರ
Mangala Vaara
ಬುಧವಾರ
Budha Vaara
ಗುರುವಾರ
Guru Vaara
ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ
Shukra Vaara
ಶನಿವಾರ
Shani Vaara
Lao ວັນອາທິດ
[wán ʔàːtʰīt]
ວັນຈັນ
[wán càn]
ວັນອັງຄານ
[wán ʔàŋkʰáːn]
ວັນພຸດ
[wán pʰūt]
ວັນພະຫັດ
[wán pʰāhát]
ວັນສຸກ
[wán súk]
ວັນເສົາ
[wán sǎu]
Shan ဝၼ်းဢႃတိတ်ႉ
IPA: [wan˦ ʔaː˩ tit˥]
ဝၼ်းၸၼ်
IPA: [wan˦ tsan˩]
ဝၼ်းဢင်းၵၼ်း
IPA: [wan˦ ʔaŋ˦ kan˦]
ဝၼ်းၽုတ်ႉ
IPA: [wan˦ pʰut˥]
ဝၼ်းၽတ်း
IPA: [wan˦ pʰat˦]
ဝၼ်းသုၵ်း
IPA: [wan˦ sʰuk˦]
ဝၼ်းသဝ်
IPA: [wan˦ sʰaw˩]
Thai วันอาทิตย์
Wan Āthit
วันจันทร์
Wan Chan
วันอังคาร
Wan Angkhān
วันพุธ
Wan Phut
วันพฤหัสบดี
Wan Phruehatsabodi
วันศุกร์
Wan Suk
วันเสาร์
Wan Sao
Mongolian адъяа
adiya
сумъяа
sumiya
ангараг
angarag
буд
bud
бархабадь
barhasbadi
сугар
sugar
санчир
sanchir
Javanese Raditya Soma Anggara Buda Respati Sukra Tumpek
Balinese Redite Coma Anggara Buda Wraspati Sukra Saniscara
Punjabi ਐਤਵਾਰ
etvār
ਸੋਮਵਾਰ
sōmvār
ਮੰਗਲਵਾਰ
mangalvār
ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ
búdvār
ਵੀਰਵਾਰ
vīrvār
ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ
shukkarvār
ਸ਼ਨਿੱਚਰਵਾਰ
shaniccharvār

East Asian Seven Luminaries

The East Asian naming system of weekdays closely parallels that of the Latin system and is ordered after the "Seven Luminaries" (七曜), which consists of the Sun, Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye. The five planets are named after the five elements in traditional East Asian philosophy: Fire (Mars), Water (Mercury), Wood (Jupiter), Metal (Venus), and Earth (Saturn). The earliest known reference in East Asia to the seven-day week in its current order and name is the writings attributed to the Chinese astrologer Fan Ning, who lived in the late 4th century of Jin Dynasty. Later diffusions from the Manichaeans are documented with the writings of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yi Jing and the Ceylonese Buddhist monk Bu Kong of the 8th century under the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese transliteration of the planetary system was soon brought to Japan by the Japanese monk Kobo Daishi; surviving diaries of the Japanese statesman Fujiwara Michinaga show the seven day system in use in Heian Period Japan as early as 1007. In Japan, the seven day system was kept in use (for astrological purposes) until its promotion to a full-fledged (Western-style) calendrical basis during the Meiji era. In China, with the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, Monday through Saturday in China are now numbered one through six, with the reference to the Sun remaining for Sunday (星期日).

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Celestial Object Sun (日) Moon (月) Mars (火) Mercury (水) Jupiter (木) Venus (金) Saturn (土)
Chinese (now obsolete) 日曜日 Rìyàorì 月曜日 Yuèyàorì 火曜日 Huǒyàorì 水曜日 Shuǐyàorì 木曜日 Mùyàorì 金曜日 Jīnyàorì 土曜日 Tǔyàorì
Japanese 日曜日 Nichiyōbi 月曜日 Getsuyōbi 火曜日 Kayōbi 水曜日 Suiyōbi 木曜日 Mokuyōbi 金曜日 Kin'yōbi 土曜日 Doyōbi
Korean (Hangul) 일요일 Iryoil 월요일 Woryoil 화요일 Hwayoil 수요일 Suyoil 목요일 Mogyoil 금요일 Geumyoil 토요일 Toyoil
Tibetan (བོད་ཡིག) གཟའ་ཉི་མ། གཟའ་ཟླ་བ། གཟའ་མིག་དམར། གཟའ་ལྷག་པ། གཟའ་ཕུར་བུ། གཟའ་པ་སངས། གཟའ་སྤེན་པ།
Pronunciations for Old Chinese names are given in Modern Standard Chinese.

Numbered weekdays

Weekdays numbered from Sunday

In the Judeo-Christian or Abrahamic tradition, the first day of the week is Sunday. Biblical Sabbath (corresponding to Saturday), when God rested from six-day Creation, made the day following Sabbath the first day of the week (corresponding to Sunday). Seventh-day Sabbaths were sanctified for celebration and rest. After the week was adopted in early Christianity, Sunday remained the first day of the week, but also gradually displaced Saturday as the day of celebration and rest, being considered the Lord's Day.

Saint Martin of Dumio (c. 520580), archbishop of Braga, decided it unworthy to call days by pagan gods and decided to use ecclesiastic terminology to designate them. This was the birth of the present Portuguese numbered system.[citation needed] Martin also tried to replace the names of the planets, but was not successful. In the Middle Ages, Galician-Portuguese retained both systems. The Roman gods' names are still used in Galician.

In the Hebrew and Islamic calendars the days extend from sunset to sunset. Thus, Jewish Shabbat starts at sunset on Friday and extends into Saturday nightfall when three stars become visible.[2] The first day of the Islamic calendar, yaum al-ahad, starts on Saturday after sunset and extends to sunset on Sunday.

Icelandic is notably divergent, maintaining only the Sun and Moon (sunnudagur and mánudagur respectively), while dispensing with the names of the explicitly heathen gods in favour of a combination of numbered days and days whose names are linked to pious or domestic routine (föstudagur, "Fasting Day" and laugardagur, "Washing Day"). The "washing day" is also used in other North Germanic languages, although the Pagan names generally are retained.

Day
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
First Day
Monday
Second Day
Tuesday
Third Day
Wednesday
Fourth Day
Thursday
Fifth Day
Friday
Sixth Day
Saturday
Seventh Day
Icelandic sunnudagur (Sun) mánudagur (Moon) þriðjudagur miðvikudagur [☿1] fimmtudagur föstudagur [♀1] laugardagur [♄2]
Hebrew יום ראשון
yom rishon
Literal transl.: 1st Day
יום שני
yom sheyni
Literal transl.: 2nd Day
יום שלישי
yom shlishi
Literal transl.: 3rd Day
יום רביעי
yom revi'i
Literal transl.: 4th Day
יום חמישי
yom khamishi
Literal transl.: 5th Day
יום שישי
yom shishi
Literal transl.: 6th Day
יום שבת
yom Shabbat[♃1]
Literal transl.: day of rest
Ecclesiastical Latin Dominica [☉1] feria secunda feria tertia feria quarta feria quinta feria sexta sabbatum [♄1]
Portuguese domingo [☉1] segunda-feira terça-feira quarta-feira quinta-feira sexta-feira sábado [♄1]
Greek Κυριακή
Kyriakí [☉1]
Δευτέρα
Dheftéra
Τρίτη
Tríti
Τετάρτη
Tetárti
Πέμπτη
Pémpti
Παρασκευή
Paraskeví [♀2]
Σάββατο
Sávato [♄1]
Armenian Կիրակի
Kiraki [☉1]
Երկուշաբթի
Yerkushabti
Երեքշաբթի
Yerekshabti
Չորեքշաբթի
Chorekshabti
Հինգշաբթի
Hingshabti
Ուրբաթ
Urbat
Շաբաթ
Shabat [♄1]
Vietnamese chủ nhật or chúa nhật [☉1] (ngày) thứ hai (ngày) thứ ba (ngày) thứ tư (ngày) thứ năm (ngày) thứ sáu (ngày) thứ bảy
Malay Ahad Isnin Selasa Rabu Khamis Jumaat [♀4] Sabtu [♄5]
Arabic يوم الأحد
yaum al-aḥad
يوم الإثنين
yaum al-ithnayn
يوم الثُّلَاثاء
yaum ath-thulathā’
يوم الأَرْبعاء
yaum al-’arbi‘ā
يوم الخَمِيس
yaum al-khamīs
يوم الجُمْعَة
yaum al-jum‘ah [♀4]
يوم السَّبْت
yaum as-sabt [♄5]
Maltese Il-Ħadd It-Tnejn It-Tlieta L-Erbgħa Il-Hamis Il-Gimgħa [♀4] Is-Sibt [♄5]
Indonesian Minggu [☉1] (Portuguese) Senin Selasa Rabu Kamis Jumat [♀4] Sabtu [♄5]
Javanese Ngaat / Akad meaning? Senen Slasa Rebo Kemis Jemuwah [♀4] Setu [♄5]
Sundanese Minggu / Minggon Senén Salasa Rebo Kemis Jumaah [♀4] Saptu [♄5]
Persian یکشنبه
yekshanbeh
1-shanbe
دوشنبه
doshanbeh
2-shanbe
سه شنبه
seshanbeh
3-shanbe
چهارشنبه
chaharshanbeh
4-shanbe
پنجشنبه
panjshanbeh
5-shanbe
آدینه Adineh [♀3] or
جمعه Jomeh [♀4]
شنبه
shanbeh
(Night & Day) shabAneh rooz
Turkish pazar [☉4] pazartesi [☽2] salı çarşamba perşembe cuma [♀4] cumartesi [♄4]
Old Turkic birinç kün ikinç kün üçünç kün törtinç kün beşinç kün altınç kün yetinç kün

Weekdays numbered from Monday

The ISO prescribes Monday as the first day of the week with ISO-8601 for software date formats.

The Slavic, Baltic and Uralic languages (except Finnish) adopted numbering but took Monday rather than Sunday as the "first day".[3]

Chinese Sunday means "week day" (星期日 or 星期天). Monday is named literally "first day of the (seven-day) week cycle", Tuesday is "second day of the (seven-day) week cycle", and so on. When China adopted the Western calendar Sunday was at the beginning of the calendar week but today Monday is preferred.

A second way to refer to weekdays is using the word zhōu (周), meaning "cycle." Therefore Sunday is referred to as zhōumò (周末), meaning "cycle's end" and Monday to Saturday are termed accordingly zhōuyī (周一) "first of cycle," zhōu'èr (周二) "second of cycle," and etc.

Another Chinese numbering system, found in spoken Mandarin and in southern dialects/languages (i.e. Cantonese and Min), refers to Sunday as the "day of worship" (lǐbàirì 禮拜日 or lǐbàitiān 禮拜天) and numbers the other days "first [day after] worship" (Monday) through to "sixth [day after] worship" (Saturday). The Chinese word used for "worship" is associated with Christian and Muslim worship.

Day
(see Irregularities)
Monday
First Day
Tuesday
Second Day
Wednesday
Third Day
Thursday
Fourth Day
Friday
Fifth Day
Saturday
Sixth Day
Sunday
Seventh Day
ISO 8601 # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Russian понедельник
ponedel'nik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
среда
sreda [☿1]
четверг
chetverg
пятница
pyatnica
суббота
subbota [♄1]
воскресенье
voskresen'je [☉3]
Belarusian Панядзелак
panyadzelak [☽1]
Аўторак
autorak
Серада
serada [☿1]
Чацьвер
chats'ver
Пятніца
pyatnitsa
Субота
subota [♄1]
Нядзеля
nyadzelya [☉6]
Ukrainian понедiлок
ponedilok [☽1]
вiвторок
vivtorok
середа
sereda [☿1]
четвер
chetver
п'ятниця
p'yatnitsya
субота
subota [♄1]
недiля
nedilya [☉6]
Bulgarian понеделник
ponedelnik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
сряда
sryada [☿1]
четвъртък
chetvărtăk
петък
petăk
събота
săbota [♄1]
неделя
nedelya [☉6]
Polish poniedziałek [☽1] wtorek środa [☿1] czwartek piątek sobota [♄1] niedziela [☉6]
Slovak pondelok [☽1] utorok streda [☿1] štvrtok piatok sobota [♄1] nedeľa [☉6]
Czech pondělí or pondělek [☽1] úterý or úterek středa [☿1] čtvrtek pátek sobota [♄1] neděle [☉6]
Slovene Ponedeljek [☽1] Torek Sreda [☿1] Četrtek Petek Sobota [♄1] Nedelja [☉6]
Croatian Ponedjeljak [☽1] Utorak Srijeda [☿1] Četvrtak Petak Subota [♄1] Nedjelja [☉6]
Serbian Понедељак
Ponedeljak [☽1]
Уторак
Utorak
Среда
Sreda [☿1]
Четвртак
Četvrtak
Петак
Petak
Субота
Subota [♄1]
Недеља
Nedelja [☉6]
Macedonian понеделник
ponedelnik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
среда
sreda [☿1]
четврток
chetvrtok
петок
petok
сабота
sabota [♄1]
недела
nedela [☉6]
Lithuanian Pirmadienis Antradienis Trečiadienis Ketvirtadienis Penktadienis Šeštadienis Sekmadienis
Latvian Pirmdiena Otrdiena Trešdiena Ceturtdiena Piektdiena Sestdiena Svētdiena
Hungarian hétfő [☽3] kedd [♂2] szerda [☿1] Slavic csütörtök Slavic péntek Slavic szombat [♄1] vasárnap [☉5]
Estonian esmaspäev teisipäev kolmapäev
or kesknädal [☿1]
neljapäev reede laupäev pühapäev
Chinese characters
(in Pinyin)
星期一
xīngqīyī
星期二
xīngqī'èr
星期三
xīngqīsān
星期四
xīngqīsì
星期五
xīngqīwǔ
星期六
xīngqīliù
星期日 or 星期天
xīngqīrì or xīngqítiān
Mongolian
(numerical)
нэг дэх өдөр
neg deh odor
хоёр дахь өдөр
hoyor dahi odor
гурав дахь өдөр
gurav dahi odor
дөрөв дэх өдөр
dorov deh odor
тав дахь өдөр
tav dahi odor
хагас сайн өдөр
hagas sain odor [♄7]
бүтэн сайн өдөр
buten sain odor [☉7]
Mongolian
(Sanskrit)
Даваа
davaa
Мягмар
myagmar
Лхагва
lkhagva
Пүрэв
purev
Баасан
baasan
Бямба
byamba
Ням
nyam

Weekdays numbered from Saturday

In Swahili the day begins at sunrise, rather than ending at sunset, and so offset by twelve hours from the Arabic and Hebrew calendar. Saturday is therefore the first day of the week, as it is the day which includes the first night of the week in Arabic. Etymologically speaking, Swahili has two fifth days of the week, although this is not widely recognized. The word for Wednesday, Jumatano, contains the number five in Swahili: tano. Tano is of Bantu origin. The word for Thursday, Alhamisi, is of Arabic origin and literally means the fifth (day). The word for Friday, Ijumaa, is also of Arabic and means (day of) gathering for the Friday noon prayers in Islam.

Day
(see Irregularities)
Saturday
First Day
Sunday
Second Day
Monday
Third Day
Tuesday
Fourth Day
Wednesday
Fifth Day
Thursday
Fifth Day
Friday
Day of Congregational Prayers
Swahili[4] jumamosi jumapili jumatatu jumanne jumatano alhamisi [♃2] ijumaa [♀4]

Mixing of numbering and planetary names

In the Žejane dialect of Istro-Romanian, lur (Monday) and virer (Friday) follow the Latin convention, while utorek (Tuesday), sredu (Wednesday), and četrtok (Thursday) follow the Slavic convention.[5]

Day:
(see Irregularities)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Istro-Romanian, Žejane dialect lur utorek sredu četrtok virer simbota [♄1] dumireca [☉1]

There are several systems in the different Basque dialects.[6]

Day: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Standard Basque, Guipuscoan Basque astelehena ("week-first") asteartea ("week-between") asteazkena ("week-last") osteguna ("Ortzi/Sky day") ostirala (see Ortzi) larunbata ("fourth", "meeting of friends"), neskenegun ("girls' day") igandea
Biscayne Basque astelena ("week-first"), ilen ("Moon day") martitzena ("Mars day") eguaztena ("day last") eguena ("day of days", "day of light") barikua ("day without supper"), egubakotx zapatua (compare with Spanish sábado from Sabbath) domeka (from Latin dominica [dies])

Notes

Sunday

☉1 From Latin dominicus "the Lord" (Christian Sabbath)
☉2 Holy Day (Christianity)
☉3 Resurrection (Christianity)
☉4 Bazaar Day
☉5 Market Day
☉6 No Work
☉7 Full good day

Monday

☽1 After No Work
☽2 After Bazaar
☽3 Head of Week
☽4 Master (as in Pir, because Muhammad was born on a Monday[citation needed])

Tuesday

♂1 Thing (Assembly), of which god Tyr/Ziu was the patron.
♂2 Second day of the week (cf. Hungarian kettő "two")

Wednesday

☿1 Mid-week or Middle
☿2 The First Fast (Christianity)
☿1 Hump-Day

Thursday

♃1 The day between two fasts (An Dé idir dhá aoin, contracted to An Déardaoin) (Christianity)
♃2 Five (Arabic)

Friday

♀1 The Fast (Celtic) or Fasting Day (Icelandic) (Christianity)
♀2 Good Friday or Preparation (Christianity)
♀3 Day of Faith (Islam)
♀4 Gathering/Assembly/Meeting (Islam)

Saturday

♄1 Shabbat or seventh-day Sabbath (Judeo–Christian)
♄2 Wash or Bath day
♄3 Sun-eve (Eve of Sunday)
♄4 After the Gathering (Islam)
♄5 End of the Week (Arabic Sabt = Rest) (Islam)
♄6 Week
♄7 Half good day holy day

External links

See also

Books

Websites

References

  1. ^ see J. Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, p. 122-123
  2. ^ "Judaism 101". JewFAQ.org. http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-28. 
  3. ^ Falk, Michael (1999-03-19). "Astronomical names for the days of the week". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 93 (1999–06): 122–133. Bibcode 1999JRASC..93..122F. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2003.07.002. 
  4. ^ Swahili days, months, dates
  5. ^ http://www.istrianet.org/istria/linguistics/istrorumeno/news/05_1000language-month.htm
  6. ^ Astronomy and Basque Language, Henrike Knörr, Oxford VI and SEAC 99 "Astronomy and Cultural Diversity", La Laguna, June 1999. It references Alessandro Bausani, 1982, The prehistoric Basque week of three days: archaeoastronomical notes, The Bulletin of the Center for Archaeoastronomy (Maryland), v. 2, 16-22.



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