Learning Spanish weekdays through their roots! ~ Learn Spanish language fast | free memory tricks | Spanish vocabulary lessons.
-->

Monday, June 18, 2007

Learning Spanish weekdays through their roots!


The names of the days of the week in Spanish and English don't seem very much alike. But in fact they have similar origins. Surprisingly, however, the day with the names in the two languages sounding the most alike — Saturday in English and sábado in Spanish — has names that aren't connected.


The etymology (word history) of most of the days the week are linked to Roman mythology. The Romans saw a connection between their gods and the changing face of the nighttime sky, so it became natural to use their gods' names for the planets — the ones they were able to track in the sky were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Those five planets plus the moon and sun made seven major astronomical bodies, so when the seven-day week was imported from Mesopotamia early in the fourth century it was a natural to use those astronomical names for the days of the week.

Under Constantine, the first day of the week was named after the sun, followed by the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.

The names of the week were adopted with little change throughout most of the Roman Empire and even beyond. In only a few cases were changes made.

In Spanish, the five weekdays all retained their planetary names. Those are the five days whose names end in -es, a shortening of the Latin word for "day," dies. Note how the English and Spanish names of the days of the week have common origins:

1. Sunday (domingo) derives from a Latin word meaning, "Lord's Day."

2. Monday (lunes) derives from Luna, Latin for Moon.

3. Tuesday (martes) derives from Mars, the Roman God of war.

4. Wednesday (miércoles ) derives from Mercury, a Roman God.

5. Thursday (jueves) derives from Jovian, the Latin adjective for Jupitar, a Roman God.

6. Friday (viernes) derives from Venus, the Roman Goddess of love.

7. Saturday (sábado) derives from Sabbath, the day of rest.

By now, I hope you know the Spanish week as naturally as the English one! Bienvenidos!

steve nosrat said...

Its a nice idea to learn Spanish, if one can start learning it from the names of the weeks.

moncler jackets said...

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects and languages in the northern fringes of the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century and gradually spread through the Kingdom of Castile, becoming the foremost language for government and trade in the Spanish Empire.

Tiffany jewelry said...

Because the software takes care of everything, and pumps out a brand new, professional website that will promote the product of your choice, whether you start with one site two products of your choice - or as many products you can muster.

Coach online outlet store said...

The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Sunday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. Either of these systems was adopted in many languages, with some exceptions due to a number of religious and secular reasons.

Coach online outlet store said...

The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Sunday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. Either of these systems was adopted in many languages, with some exceptions due to a number of religious and secular reasons.

Nike shox clearance said...

Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.Any way Ill be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.

asics shoes said...

You write really good articles, very attractive, I feel very shocked. I hope you can continue with your work, come on!

Rosetta Stone said...

Some more Spanish through visualization! Learning Spanish weekdays through their roots! Some Spanish verbs easy to learn Spanish makes it easier to learn many other langua

asics shoes said...

Visitors may shop by lamp brand, by lamp application or by style. Farreys.com lamp product search tool quickly helps find the perfect lamps for your application. Farreys do offer other house improvement products such as Ceiling Fans, Door Wear, Kitchen, Ventilation and Bath.

Unknown said...

guys
to learn spanish just click this
learn spanish online