Friday, December 21, 2007

The Names of the Months?

The original Roman Calendar had ten months, Martius, “ March,” marzo, the first month, Mars’ month; Aprilis, “April,” abril, the second month, Aphrodite’s month; Maius, “May,” mayo, the third month, Maia’s mItaliconth; Junius, “June,” junio, the fourth month, Juno’s month; Quintilis or Julius, “July,” julio, the fifth month, Julius Caesar’s month; Sextilis, “ August,” agosto, the sixth month, Augustus Caesar’s month; September, “September,” septiembre, the seventh month; October, “October,” octubre, the eighth month; November, November, noviembre, the ninth month; December, “December”, diciembre, the tenth month.

Around 700 BC, Roman King Numa Pompilius added two more months: Januarius, “January,” enero, the month of Janus, the God of the two faces, one looking back to history, the other forward to the future; and Februarius, “February,” febrero, the month of purification. Numa Pompilius moved the beginning of the year from March to January, misrepresenting our tenth month with the name of the eighth, the ninth with the seventh, the eleventh with the ninth, and the twelfth with the tenth.

Neither days nor months are capitalized in Spanish.

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