{"id":2582,"date":"2012-02-07T08:43:29","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T08:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=2582"},"modified":"2014-07-17T17:57:22","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T17:57:22","slug":"old-russian-names-for-months-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/old-russian-names-for-months-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Russian Names for the 12 Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u041d\u0443 <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span> <\/strong>\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c!<\/strong> (This is some kind of winter!) Over where I am right now, daffodils and cherry trees are already blooming and folks are strolling around in t-shirts and flip-flops (and no, I am not in the Southern Hemisphere or in the tropics). All the while, my friends in Volgograd, Russia, mention \u0447\u0440\u0435\u0437\u0432\u044b\u0447\u0430<\/span>\u0439\u043d\u043e <\/strong>\u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u043d\u0438<\/strong> (exceptionally cold days) with temperatures dipping well below -20 degrees C (- 4 degrees F).<\/p>\n

In the absence of \u0441\u043d\u0435\u0433, <\/strong>\u043b\u0451\u0434 <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0437<\/strong> (snow, ice and frost), I resorted to watching one of my favorite childhood cartoons, 12 <\/strong>\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u044f\u0446\u0435\u0432<\/strong> (12 Months). If you are not familiar with the story, in a nutshell it\u2019s about a little girl sent to the forest to pick \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0441\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438 <\/strong>(snowdrops)\u2026 in the middle of winter, in the month of \u0441\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Wait just a second, you might say. What month is \u0441\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>? Months in Russian sound pretty much the same as they do in English since they are based on the Latin names.<\/p>\n

This makes their names very easy to remember. But if you are looking for an extra challenge as well as some interesting Russian language trivia, let\u2019s learn old Slavic names for all the 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u042f\u043d\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u044c<\/strong> (January) was known as \u043f\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0438\u043d\u0435\u0446<\/strong> from the verb \u0441\u0438\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/strong> (to shine) since the days were becoming longer. It was also known as \u043b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (lit: a month of fierce wind) and \u0442\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0443<\/span>\u043d<\/strong>, from the word \u0442\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043a<\/strong> (crackle). If you enjoy reading classical Russian literature or playing World of Warcraft in Russian, you are familiar with a phrase \u0442\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u0439 <\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0437<\/strong> (ringing frost).<\/p>\n

\u0424\u0435\u0432\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c<\/strong> (February) was called \u0441\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> since that was the time for cutting down trees. The verb \u0441\u0435\u0447\u044c<\/strong> means to hew or to chop (in addition to \u201cto whip\u201d). Other names for February were \u043b\u044e<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> (fierce), \u0432\u044c\u044e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (lit: one that blows blizzards) and \u0431\u043e\u043a\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (lit: one that warms up sides). The latter is because the sun is coming out more in February, but there\u2019s still no real heat.<\/p>\n

\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0442<\/strong> (March) was \u0441\u0443\u0445\u0438<\/span>\u0439<\/strong>. It sounds very close to \u0441\u0443\u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (dry) and has the same meaning. Snow melts and some patches might be not only free of snow, but also dry in March. Such patches are called \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u043d\u044b<\/strong> (thaw holes) and earn March its other name, \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>. Finally, it is also \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, a month when \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0447\u0438<\/span><\/strong> (rooks) return.<\/p>\n

\u0410\u043f\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u044c<\/strong> (April) used to be called \u0431\u0435\u0440\u0451<\/span>\u0437\u043e\u0437\u043e\u043b<\/strong>. It\u2019s a compound noun made up of \u0431\u0435\u0440\u0451<\/span>\u0437\u0430<\/strong> (birch tree) and \u0437\u043e\u043b<\/strong>… But it\u2019s not the same \u0437\u043e\u043b<\/strong> as in the sentence \u043f\u0430<\/span>\u043f\u0430 <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u043b <\/strong>\u043e<\/span><\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c <\/strong>\u0437\u043e\u043b <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0421\u0435\u0440\u0433\u0435<\/span>\u044f <\/strong>(Dad was very angry at Sergey). In other words, it\u2019s not the short form of \u0437\u043b\u043e\u0439<\/strong> (angry), but rather a no-longer used word related to the verb \u0437\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/strong> (to become green). So April is the month of greening birches (hey, that\u2019s quite an interesting image – angry crackling birches of January and grinning birches of April).<\/p>\n

April\u2019s other names are even more cheerful – \u0441\u043d\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u043d<\/strong> (one driving away snow), \u0440\u0443\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong> from the word \u0440\u0443\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (stream), and \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043e\u0446\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442<\/strong>, another compound noun made up of \u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439<\/strong> (first) and \u0446\u0432\u0435\u0442<\/strong>, here – a short form of \u0446\u0432\u0435\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043a<\/strong> (flower). Another piece of trivia for you – the flower \u043f\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u0443\u043b\u0430<\/strong> (primrose) is sometimes called \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043e\u0446\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> (first-flowering).<\/p>\n

\u041c\u0430\u0439<\/strong> (May) was \u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u044b\u0439, <\/strong>\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u0438\u043a or <\/strong>\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> from the word \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0430<\/span><\/strong> (grass). Not much to add here other than it was also called \u0446\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> from \u0446\u0432\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/span><\/strong> (to flower) and \u044f\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0446<\/strong>. Now that last word is interesting. If you try looking it up online, you will get either links to profiles of all the people with the last name \u042f\u0440\u0435\u0446<\/strong> or a page that explains that \u044f\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0446<\/strong> is a one-year old beaver. However, the month was named after the sun god, \u042f\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u043e<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to \u0438\u044e<\/span>\u043d\u044c <\/strong>(June) or \u0438\u0437\u043e<\/span>\u043a<\/strong> as it was known. I\u2019ve never heard of the word \u0438\u0437\u043e<\/span>\u043a<\/strong> until now, but turns out, it is an old word for \u043a\u0443\u0437\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u043a<\/strong> (grasshopper). It is also a month of \u0445\u043b\u0435\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442<\/strong>. Hint: another compound word made up of \u0445\u043b\u0435\u0431<\/strong> (bread) and \u0440\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/strong> (to grow). Neither the word \u0438\u0437\u043e<\/span>\u043a<\/strong> nor \u0445\u043b\u0435\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442<\/strong> are in use now, but \u0441\u043a\u043e\u043f\u0438\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c<\/strong> is. It means \u201ca hoarder\u201d and is another name for June since future harvest depends on the work done in June.<\/p>\n

Like it so far? Stay tuned to find out about 6 more months!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u041d\u0443 \u0438 \u0437\u0438\u043c\u0430 \u0432\u044b\u0434\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c! (This is some kind of winter!) Over where I am right now, daffodils and cherry trees are already blooming and folks are strolling around in t-shirts and flip-flops (and no, I am not in the Southern Hemisphere or in the tropics). All the while, my friends in Volgograd, Russia, mention \u0447\u0440\u0435\u0437\u0432\u044b\u0447\u0430\u0439\u043d\u043e…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[117519,117517,117515,117516,1248,117518],"class_list":["post-2582","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-language","tag-interesting-facts-about-russian-language","tag-names-of-months-in-russian","tag-old-russian-words","tag-russian-calendar","tag-russian-language","tag-russian-language-trivia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6408,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions\/6408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}