Calendar Names of Days and Months in Different Languages

(a compilation of several languages)

The dates displayed in these pages are based on a compilation of the phases of time as expressed in several languages with a presentation of fascinating facts, fantasies, and fallacies that have merged as elements of time.

The equivalents in all of the following languages have been written with Roman/Latin fonts (letters), even in those situations when a language actually employs different letter forms. For example, such languages as Greek, Georgian, Russian (Cyrillic), Hebrew, and Arabic are transliterated into the Roman/Latin-type fonts.

Bantu-Botatwe dialect months
Mwkazimaziba, Mukazimalambwa (January)
Mulume, Mulumi (February)
Muyoba, Muyobo (March)
Mukubwe-kaangala, Cisangule (April)
Kaanda-kanini, Inkomboola-bulezi (May)
Ganda-pati, Ivwivivi-pati (June)
Kunkumuna-masamu, Kazyala-konze (July)
Itwi, Katwe-kacela (August)
Ivwivwi, Katu (September)
Ka-vwmbi-kanini, Kazyumbi-kanini (October)
Ivumbi-pati, Izyumbi pati (November)
Nalupale, Simwenje (December)

—From English Vernacular Dictionary of the Bantu-Botatwe Dialects of Northern Rhodesia
by J. Torrend and S.J. Gregg; Press Ltd.; Farnborough, Hants, England; 1967.
Basque (Euskara, Euskera, Eskuara, or Eskwara) days
astelehena (Monday)
asteatea, astearte (Tuesday)
asteazkena, asteazken (Wednesday)
osteguna (orzeguna), ostegun (Thursday)
ostirala (ortzirala), ostiral; barikua (Friday)
larunbata, larunbat, larunbateko, or zapatua (Saturday)
igandea, igande, igadeko or domeka, dominical (Sunday)

Basque (Euskara, Euskera, Eskuara, or Eskwara) months
urtarrila (January) New Year month or black month
otsaila (February) bull or wolf month
martxoa (March) tepid month
apirila (April) weeding or fasting-bread month
maiatza (May) leaf month
ekaina (June) seed-time, bean or barley month
uztaila (July) harvest or wheat month
abuztua, abustua (August) month of drought
iraila (September) fern or ear month
urria (October) gathering month
azaroa (November) sowing month or harvest month
abendua (December) binding up of vegetation(?)

The months refer throughout to the vegetation and to agriculture (p. 283-284).


—From Primitive Time-Reckoning, A Study in the Origins
and First Development of the Art of Counting Time among the Primitive and Early Culture Peoples
;
by Martin P. Nilsson, professor of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in the
University of Lund, Sweden; C.W.K. Gleer-up; 1920.

Euskura has no known historical documents

There are no written records of Euskura, the Basque language, known before the Middle Ages, even though it had been spoken for at least a thousand years by that time.

Some scholars say its origins can be traced to a language spoken on the Iberian peninsula before the Roman occupation, while others maintain that it bears a familial resemblance to certain Caucasian languages; such as, Georgian.

It is said that there are any where from half a million to one million Euskura-speakers in Spain and France. About 900,000 are estimated to be in Spain.

Bilbao, the capital of Vizcaya, is the major city of the Basque region. Most Basques are bilingual or trilingual, speaking Spanish or French (or both) in adddition to Euskara. It is the "only non-Indo-European language of Western Europe".


—From The Pyrenees, revised and edited by Marc Dubin; The Rough Guide;, London; 1994.
Bengali days
soom bar (Monday)
mangal bar (Tuesday)
budh bar (Wednesday)
briwaspati bar (Thursday)
sukra bar (Friday)
sani bar (Saturday)
rabi bar (Sunday)

Bengali months
chaitra (January)
baisakh (February)
jaistha (March)
asarh (April)
shravan (May)
bhadra (June)
kartik (July)
aughran (August)
paus (September)
magh (October)
phagun (November)
(December)
—From a native-speaker.

Bretonian days
al Lun (al loar) [moon] (Monday)
ar Meurzh [Mars] (Tuesday)
ar Mer'her [Mercury] (Wednesday)
ar Yaou [Jupiter] (Thursday)
ar GWener [Venus] (Friday)
ar Sadorn [Saturn] (Saturday)
ar Sul (an heol) [sun] (Sunday)

Bretonian months
Genver (January)
C"Hwevrer (February)
Meurzh (March)
Ebrel (April)
Mae (May)
Even/Mezheven (June)
Gouere (July)
Eost (August)
GWengolo (September)
Here (October)
Du (November)
Kerzu (December)

Bulgarian days
ponedélnik (Monday)
vtornik (Tuesday)
srjáda (Wednesday)
cetvartak (Thursday)
petak (Friday)
sabota (Saturday)
nedalja (Sunday)

Bulgarian months
januári (January)
fevruárí (February)
mart (March)
apríl (April)
máj (May)
júni (June)
júli (July)
ávgust (August)
septémvri (September)
októmvri (October)
noémvri (November)
dekémvri (December)
—From Eastern Europe Phrase Book; Bulgarian section by Dr. Angel Pachev; Lonely Planet Publications; Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia; 1992.

Bulgarian, a Basic Slavic Language

Bulgarian is spoken by about eight million people, or 90% of the Bulgarian population. It made an important contribution in the historical development of the Slavic language when a dialect of Bulgarian was used as the basis for evolving the first alphabet when it was devised in the ninth century A.D.

Old Bulgarian, or Old Church Slavonic as it was later called, functioned as the literary vehicle of all the Slavic languages and it was one of the three major literary languages of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Now, the modern Bulgarian alphabet is almost completely the same one as used in the Russian script.

—From The Languages of the World, by Kenneth Katzner;
Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.; Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK; 1995.
Catalonian (Català) days
diumenge (Sunday)
dilluns (Monday)
dimarts (Tuesday)
dimecres (Wednesday)
dijous (Thursday)
divendres (Friday)
dissabte (Saturday)

Catalonian (Català) months
gener (January)
febrer (February)
març (March)
abril (April)
maig (May)
juny (June)
juliol (July)
agost (August)
setembre (September)
octubre (October)
novembre (November)
desembre (December)

—From a native Catalonian speaker.

Catalá is a Romance language which has evolved from medieval Provençal which has survived centralist campaigns either favoring Castilian or actively suppressing Catalá from the 15th to the 20th centuries.

Although the use of Catalá (Catalan) was prohibited under General Franco, it is again a flourishing language, spoken by between three and four million people around the eastern part of the Pyrenees range as well as around Barcelona.


—From The Pyrenees, revised and edited by Marc Dubin;
The Rough Guides; London; 1994.
Congolese (former French colony) days
mokolo ya libosó [1st day] (Monday)
mokolo ya míbalé [2nd day] (Tuesday)
mokolo ya mísáto [3rd day] (Wednesday)
mokolo ya mínei [4th day] (Thursday)
mokolo ya mitáno [5th day] (Friday)
póso [week] (Saturday)
eyenga, lomíngo (Sunday/Feastday)
Congolese (former French colony) months
sánza ya libosó [1st month] (January)
sánza ya míbalé [2nd month] (February)

sánza ya mísáto [3rd month] (March)
sánza ya mínei [4th month] (April)

sánza ya mítáno [5th month] (May)
sánza ya motóba [6th month] (June)
sánza ya sámbó [7th month] (July)
sánza ya mwámbe [8th month] (August)
sánza ya libwá [9th month] (September)
sánza ya zómi [10th month] (October)
sánza ya zómi na mókó [11th month] (November)
sánza ya zómi na míbalé [12th month] (December)

—Based on information from:
Lingala für Kongo und Zaire by Rogérto Goma Mpasi;
published by Peter Rump Verlags-und Vertriebsges. mbH; Bielefeld, Germany; 1992.


French is the official language of Congo and Lingala is the main African language spoken in the north and around Brazzaville. Munukutuba, an offshoot of Kikongo, the native language of the Kongo people, is the main African language in the south around the Pointe-Noire.


—Based on information from:
Central Africa–a travel survival kit, 2nd ed. by Alex Newton;
Lonely Planet Publications; Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia; 1994.

Croatian (Hrvatski) days
ponedjeljak (Monday)
utorak (Tuesday)
srijeda (Wednesday)
c'etvrtak (Thursday)
petak (Friday)
subota (Saturday)
nedjelja (Sunday)

Monday, or ponedjeljak, means the “first day after no activities” or the “first day after doing nothing [non-working day].”
Tuesday, or utorak, means the “second day after no activities [non-working day].”
Wednesday, or srijeda, means “middle” of the week.
Thursday, or cetvrtak, means “fourth working day” after the non-working day.
Friday, or petak, means “fifth working day” after the non-working day.
Saturday, or subota, means “sabbath.”
Sunday, or nedjelja, means “no activities” or “doing nothing” [non-working day].



Croatian (Hrvatski) months
sijec'anj (January)
veljac'a (February)
oz'ujak (March)
travanj (April)
svibanj (May)
lipanj (June)
srpanj (July)
kolovoz (August)
rujan (September)
listopad (October)
studeni (November)
prosinac (December)

—Based on information from:

Mediterranean Europe Phrasebook by Draga Gelt;
Lonely Planet Publications; Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, 1992.


Berlitz East European Phrase Book;
Berlitz Publishing Company, Ltd.; Oxford, England; 1995.


International Dictionary in 21 Languages by H.L. Ouseg;
Philosophical Library; New York; 1962.

Also information was provided by Mr. Heinz Lutz;
of Oestrich/Winkel, Germany; an "official-language translator"
for private and legal matters.