Happy Moon of the Frozen Pearl (Or February, If You Prefer)

—Taro Ietaka, Director of Conservation & Land Stewardship

photo by Audrey on commons.wikimedia.org

Sometimes knowing the origin of words is very educational. And sometimes it is not. Take the names of our months in English, for example. A little research shows that the months are named after Roman gods (Mars, Janus, Maia), festivals (Februalia), and emperors (Augustus and Julius Caesar). There are also a few number-names (September (sept=7), October (oct=8), November (nova=9), December (deca=10)) but the number meanings don't match their appearance in a calendar year - thanks to the Caesars cramming their months in out of order. In fact, I'd recommend any student of English (or French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other related languages) to skip learning the meanings of month names just to avoid the confusion of it all.

Wouldn't it be nice if month names were a little more descriptive of what was actually occurring in the natural world at that time of year or if they were a reminder of what needed to be done? The Finnish language, which is distinct from just about every other language on Earth except Estonian, uses nature as its origin. For example, February is helmikuu - month of the pearl (named for frozen water droplets on the end of twigs) and March is maaliskuu (bare earth showing through the snow). The Finnish tourist bureau could use those translations to attract winter visitors, however, they might want to conceal the meanings for October and November - lokakuu and marraskuu - mud moon and death moon, respectively.

The best known examples of languages with month names inspired by nature are those of the First Nations. Since the American Indians did not originally use the Gregorian calendar, they kept track of time by following the moon cycle. So January to the Zuni was Dayamcho yachunne - "moon of tree limbs cracking under snow". To the Yuchi, June was Cpaconendzo - "moon of ripening blackberries." November for the Kahniakenhaka (Mohawk) is Kentenhko:wa - "time of much poverty." Another hunger related month name was the Lakota's Wihakaktacepapi wi - "moon when the wife had to crack bones for marrow fat". Americanindian.net has compiled many different Nations' months and reading through it is very instructive about what traditional life would have been like for those people. It is also very poetic: I'd be the first to sign on to rename March after the Hopi's Osomuyaw - "month of the whispering wind".