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Naava wrote:Helmikuu = apparently the name describes the snow beads that form on tree branches in February. Imo that's interesting because so many other languages have used the snow theme here, too.![]()
Naava wrote:Elokuu = elo can mean 'life', but in this case it means 'crop' or 'harvest'. It's part of the growing-the-crop -saga we have going on here: first huhtikuu to make the field, then toukokuu to plant the seeds, and finally elokuu to reap what you've grown.(Cf. elonkorjuu = the harvest)
Naava wrote:Tammikuu = tammi does not mean 'oak' in this case but 'the centre, the axis'; the "old folk" believed that January is the middle of winter.
Linguaphile wrote:It's exactly the same with Estonian helmekuu; the helme refers to the beads of snow on trees. Maybe I should put "[of snow]" in the translation, otherwise it might sound as though it refers to a month of glass or plastic beads for some reason.![]()
I understood that elo referred to the life of the crops, but I didn't realize that "crop" or "harvest" was actually a meaning of the word itself.
Linguaphile wrote:Naava wrote:Tammikuu = tammi does not mean 'oak' in this case but 'the centre, the axis'; the "old folk" believed that January is the middle of winter.
This one is great because it makes it the same as südakuu in Estonian, which is called "heart month" for the same reason. -- I assume the other Finnic languages probably also used to have more variety as well, at least in different regions or at different times, until standardization made the language settle on just one.
Naava wrote: mätäkuu ('pus month') but also kylvökuu ('planting month') for August
...
the term mätäkuu still exist. It refers to the period between July and August when people believed that wounds would become infected and food get spoiled more easily/faster than normally.
Linguaphile wrote:Naava wrote: mätäkuu ('pus month') but also kylvökuu ('planting month') for August
...
the term mätäkuu still exist. It refers to the period between July and August when people believed that wounds would become infected and food get spoiled more easily/faster than normally.Eew, pus month... Actually though, mädäkuu is also used in Võro as an alternative name for August. I don't know if they had the same belief about wounds and spoiled food that you described (probably). Until seeing your explanation, I thought it probably just had to do with rotting crops that hadn't been harvested, or something like that. It didn't even occur to me that it might refer to pus in wounds. I would have translated it as "rot month" or "rotten month."
h34 wrote:+ Komi-Zyrian
(Trying to find out more about the meanings. 'April' literally seems to mean 'dry soil month' but that's a bit confusing because I think in northern Russia spring is associated with flood, mud and dirt...)
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