{"id":81,"date":"2009-01-27T12:02:33","date_gmt":"2009-01-27T16:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=81"},"modified":"2009-01-27T12:02:33","modified_gmt":"2009-01-27T16:02:33","slug":"i-mesi-dell%e2%80%99anno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/i-mesi-dell%e2%80%99anno\/","title":{"rendered":"I Mesi dell\u2019Anno"},"content":{"rendered":"

I mesi dell\u2019anno <\/strong>(the months of the year) have very similar names\u00a0in most cultures that use the Giuliano<\/strong> (Julian) and Gregoriano<\/strong> (Gregorian) calendar. In the first century B.C. Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, giving it its\u00a0familiar\u00a0structure of 365 days (366 every fourth year which is\u00a0known as\u00a0an anno bisestile<\/strong>), divided into 12 months. Apart from minor changes which were introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregorio XIII, the calendario Giuliano <\/strong>(Julian calendar) is still used today. This explains the fact that the names of the months are all derived from Latin and most of them refer to Roman gods or emperors. In Italian we have many proverbs and expressions that describe the characteristics of almost every month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gennaio<\/strong> (January) was the month governed by Janus<\/em>, Roman god of gates and beginnings,\u00a0who is depicted with faces on both the front and back of his head;<\/span><\/p>\n

febbraio<\/strong> (February) comes from the Latin word februa<\/em>, a purification feast held\u00a0by the Romans during this month. There is a proverb which says: febbraio febbraietto, corto e maledetto<\/strong> (February little February, short and cursed);<\/span><\/p>\n

marzo<\/strong> (March) was dedicated to Marte<\/strong> (Mars), god of spring and fertility as well as war. As the weather in this month is often very unpredictable the <\/span>proverb goes: marzo pazzerello, c\u2019e\u2019 il sole, prendi l\u2019ombrello<\/strong> (crazy March, it\u2019s sunny, get the umbrella), and when speaking of a person who is particularly inconsistent we often say: e\u2019 nato di marzo<\/strong> (he\/she was born in March);<\/span><\/p>\n

aprile <\/strong>(April): the origins of its name are uncertain, there are however many proverbs for this gentle warm month, the most famous being aprile, dolce dormire<\/strong> (April, sweet sleep\/drowsiness), which describes so well the desire\u00a0to lay down in the first warmth of the sun and sleep. But beware of the sudden changes in temperature typical of spring: d\u2019aprile non ti scoprire<\/strong> (in April don\u2019t uncover yourself). For the farmers and wine lovers the proverb\u00a0goes d\u2019aprile ogni goccia un barile<\/strong> (in April each drop is a barrel, meaning that April\u2019s rain is good for the vines);<\/span><\/p>\n

maggio<\/strong> (May) was dedicated to Maia<\/em>, mother of Mercury and goddess of fertility and fields. In May nature is blossoming, and bella come un maggio<\/strong> (beautiful like a May) is the compliment we use for a young beauty. In the Roman Catholic church maggio<\/em> is dedicated to the Madonna<\/strong>, and fare il mese di maggio<\/strong> (lit. to do the month of May) means to participate\u00a0in the daily religious functions and prayers that are held in this month, in particular il rosario<\/strong> (the rosary);<\/span><\/p>\n

giugno<\/strong> (June) comes from Juno<\/em>, goddess of marriage and wife of Jupiter, she governs the seasons. This is the month of harvests: giugno, la falce in pugno<\/strong> (June, the sickle in the fist);<\/span><\/p>\n

luglio<\/strong> (July) is named after Julius Caesar, born in this month.\u00a0From this the sunniest and warmest month of the year, when the solleone<\/strong> (lit. lion\u2019s sun) dominates nature,\u00a0comes the expression\u00a0vendere il sol di luglio<\/strong> (literally \u2018to sell July\u2019s sun\u2019, meaning to make something that is common and abundant appear\u00a0to be\u00a0rare or precious );<\/span><\/p>\n

agosto<\/strong> (August) was dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. In this month the rising full moon appears rounder and reddish on the horizon, that is why we\u00a0use the expression\u00a0tondo come la luna d\u2019agosto<\/strong> (round like the August moon) to describe someone with a particularly round face. Agosto<\/em> is also the time of the first rains that bring relief from the solleone<\/em> and create the right conditions for wild mushrooms to grow: la prima acqua d\u2019agosto rinfresca il mare e il bosco<\/strong> (The first August rain refreshes the sea and the woods);<\/span><\/p>\n

settembre <\/strong>(September), from Latin septem<\/em> (seven), was the 7th month of the Roman calendar which, unlike the modern one, started in March. In September you can savor fichi<\/strong> (figs) and uva<\/strong> (grapes), i frutti settembrini<\/strong> (September\u2019s fruits);<\/span><\/p>\n

ottobre<\/strong> (October), from Latin octo <\/strong><\/em>(eight), was the 8th month of the Roman calendar. As the weather is often very pleasant you can enjoy una ottobrata<\/strong>, an October\u2019s outing in the countryside;<\/span><\/p>\n

novembre<\/strong> (November), from Latin novem<\/em> (nine), was the 9th month of the Roman calendar, and is marked by the nebbie novembrine<\/strong> (November\u2019s fogs);<\/span><\/p>\n

dicembre<\/strong> (December), from Latin decem<\/em> (ten), was, guess what?\u00a0Yes the 10th month of the Roman calendar!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I mesi dell\u2019anno (the months of the year) have very similar names\u00a0in most cultures that use the Giuliano (Julian) and Gregoriano (Gregorian) calendar. In the first century B.C. Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, giving it its\u00a0familiar\u00a0structure of 365 days (366 every fourth year which is\u00a0known as\u00a0an anno bisestile), divided into 12 months. Apart from…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[726,736,745],"class_list":["post-81","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-italian-calendar","tag-italian-months-of-the-year","tag-italian-proverbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}