{"id":2586,"date":"2012-02-09T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=2586"},"modified":"2012-02-09T02:19:12","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T02:19:12","slug":"12-months-in-russian-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/12-months-in-russian-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Months in Russian – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PhbNyasaoJw<\/a><\/p>\n

In case you missed it, this is Part 2 of the story about old Russian names for the 12 months of the year. January through June are covered in\u00a0Part 1<\/a>. As for the video, it has a connection albeit\u00a0tenuous to this post, specifically to one of the names for September.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u0418\u044e<\/span>\u043b\u044c<\/strong> (July) – the old name of this month was \u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u0435\u043d<\/strong> or \u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>. The origin of this word is particularly interesting. So if you speak Russian fairly fluently, you might realize that \u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> is very close to \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044c<\/strong> (worm). I don\u2019t know about you, but when I think of worms, I think of either \u0440\u044b\u0431\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u043a\u0430 <\/strong>(fishing) or \u043e\u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434<\/strong> (vegetable garden) with its beneficial \u043e\u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u0438<\/strong> (garden worms). Yet while July is the perfect month for doing both fishing and gardening in Russia, that\u2019s not where the old name comes from.<\/p>\n

Instead, the month got its name after an insect called \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0446<\/strong> (coccid). This insect was used as a source of highly valuable red dye. That is why this word \u0447\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0432\u0435\u043d<\/strong> sounds so familiar to another seldom-used word \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043b\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong> (deep-red). So July was the month when these insects were collected for making red dye. By the way, English language has several words for this deep red color: crimson<\/em> and carmine<\/em>, both from the Arabic word al-qirmiz<\/em> meaning a coccid<\/em>; the third word is vermillion<\/em>, derived from the Latin word for a \u201csmall worm\u201d, vermiculus<\/em>. (Ok, I\u2019m totally geeking out here).<\/p>\n

Before I move on, let me just mention that other names for July were \u0433\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, the month of \u0433\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u044b<\/strong> (thunderstorms) and \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, from \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0434\u0430<\/span><\/strong> (harvest time).<\/p>\n

\u0410<\/span><\/strong>\u0432\u0433\u0443\u0441\u0442 <\/strong>(August), my favorite month, was called \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0432<\/strong> from \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0432\u043e<\/strong> (blaze or glow). In this case the glow is that of sunset, but the word \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0432\u043e<\/strong> is more often used to describe \u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0432\u043e <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0436\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0430<\/strong> (a blaze of a large fire). August is not just the month of spectacular sunsets, but also of abundant \u0434\u0430\u0440\u044b<\/span> <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u044b<\/strong> (bounty of nature) from all the farming and gardening. It is the month of <\/strong>\u0433\u0443\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0435<\/span>\u0434<\/strong> (eating well) and was also known as \u0440\u0430\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0441\u043e<\/span>\u043b<\/strong>. Now, that\u2019s a very useful word right there. It is no longer used in its singular form, but only in plural \u0440\u0430\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0441\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044b<\/strong>, meaning delicious food in general and pickles in particular. And in Russia pretty much everything that can be grown or caught can be pickled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0421\u0435\u043d\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u0431\u0440\u044c<\/strong> (September) was known as \u0440\u0435\u0432\u0443<\/span>\u043d<\/strong>, probably from \u0440\u0451\u0432<\/strong> (bellowing) of animals. Why, I\u2019m not sure, so I like its other two names, \u0445\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> and \u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0435\u043d\u044c,<\/strong> better. \u0425\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> comes from the word \u0445\u043c\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0439<\/strong> (gloomy, overcast) and \u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong> from the plant \u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043a<\/strong> (purple heather).<\/p>\n

\u041e\u043a\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u0431\u0440\u044c<\/strong> (October) had the name of \u043b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0434<\/strong> (leaf fall) which is pretty self-explanatory. The weather was getting worse and worse hence the month\u2019s other name \u0433\u0440\u044f<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong> (muddy). The plus side of the muddy and chilly October was that all the field work was done for the year freeing up time for personal life. So October was a traditional wedding month or \u0441\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0431\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong>, from \u0441\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u044c\u0431\u0430<\/strong> (a wedding).<\/p>\n

\u041d\u043e\u044f<\/span>\u0431\u0440\u044c<\/strong> (November) was \u0433\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>. It actually comes from the word \u0433\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0430<\/strong>. Right now the word \u0433\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0430<\/strong> means a heap, but back then it also meant a frozen rut in the road. So while there was no snow yet, the ground was already frozen. It was almost winter and hence November\u2019s other name, \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0437\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u0438\u043a<\/strong> (half-winter month).<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s time for \u0434\u0435\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0431\u0440\u044c<\/strong> (December) or \u0441\u0442\u0443\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong>. Ask a Russian to think of a sentence that uses the word \u0441\u0442\u0443\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/strong> and they will likely recite a line from a poem \u201cRussian Peasant Children\u201d<\/a> by Nikolay Nekrasov (this line, \u041e\u0434\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0436\u044b <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u0443\u044e <\/strong>\u0437\u0438<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u044e\u044e <\/strong>\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0443…<\/strong> is a meme in its own right). The words \u0441\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0436\u0430<\/strong> (bitter cold) might not be widely used either, but the word \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0430<\/strong> (a cold) sure is. Other than \u0441\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c<\/strong>, December was also known as \u0432\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0437\u0438<\/span>\u043c<\/strong>, a compound word made up of \u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u0440<\/strong> (wind) and \u0437\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span><\/strong> (winter). Brrr\u2026.<\/p>\n

And there you have it, all 12 months of the year. Again, for most of the learners of Russian language this information has little practical value. There is no need to memorize any of the Russian words in this post since most of them fell out of use a while ago. However, if you are curious about the history of Russian language, love obscure and forgotten words and crave trivia knowledge, then you might find this post rather entertaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, this is Part 2 of the story about old Russian names for the 12 months of the year. January through June are covered in\u00a0Part 1. As for the video, it has a connection albeit\u00a0tenuous to this post, specifically to one of the names for September.\u00a0 \u0418\u044e\u043b\u044c (July) – the old…<\/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":[3,178,8],"tags":[117517,117515,117516,1248,117518],"class_list":["post-2586","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-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\/2586","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=2586"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12752,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2586\/revisions\/12752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}