mjtyson on April 25, 2008 at 8:04 PM

What he said on the question of the Russian language.

mjtyson on April 25, 2008 at 8:04 PM

Thanks! Fascinating: a weekly reminder of Holy Week.

In Greek & Latin it’s “Day of the Lord” (Dies Domenicus, Κυριακὴ [ἡμέρα]).

FYI: it’s not pronounced with a ‘cross’ in the middle.

воскресенье:

/vahs-kre-sen-ye/ with the stress on the /sen/.

(Just, in case you were wondering… And the Greek words for Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter are: Opening, Goodweather, Fruit-withering and Cold-storm [nos. 2&4 being originally for sailing].

kirkill on April 25, 2008 at 3:56 PM

Interesting. What does воскресенье mean literally? Nothing to do with Dies Solis?

By the way, in Icelandic “Saturday” refers to preparation for Sunday: it’s called Laugardagur, lit. “bath-day”! (In Greek, following the Jews, it’s Friday, that’s the preparation-day.)

I’m not sure about the Russian months. If it’s Январь, then that’s just the Roman January, named for not for Jesus but Janus

I stand corrected. The java medication has taken hold. It’s the DAYS of the week that was complimentary to Jesus.

Sabbath:
суббота noun Saturday soobbota

воскресенье noun Sunday vos cross sane yeh
There’s a cross in the middle of Sunday.

Sorry.

OTOH, the world’s worst Jihadi conqueror & mass murderer Tamerlane did originate in Turkestan.

infidelpride on April 25, 2008 at 12:11 PM

Though the act of hybris that brought him down (in the Marlovian version, at least) was his burning of the Alcoran.

Which, by the way, like algebra and alcohol, is accented on the first syllable, as is also Mahomet. (You can tell from Marlowe’s extremely regular meter.)

Январь Февраль Март Апрель Май Июнь Июль Август Сентябрь Октябрь Ноябрь Декабрь

There are the Russian months of the year. I understand that even during the USSR the word for January meant something along the lines of “Jesus died for your sins”. Really!

kirkill on April 25, 2008 at 10:30 AM

I’m not sure about the Russian months. If it’s Январь, then that’s just the Roman January, named for not for Jesus but Janus, the two-faced god (who looks at the year going and the year coming). Traditional Greek months (which varied from region to region) did however often refer to religious festivals, though I think the agricultural ones are more picturesque. Some of both (my rather awkward translations) are as follows:

Jan: Carol-singer, Midwinter, Cat-month
Feb: Pruner
Mar: Planter, Spring-month, Annunciation (of the Deipara)
Apr: Rose-month, St. George’s
May: Cherry-month, Flowery, Verdant
June: Reaper, St. John’s
July: Thresher
Aug: Food-month, Fat-fly, Fig-gatherer
Sept: Grape-harvester, Quail-month
Oct: Rainer
Nov: Sower, Shadowy
Dec: Christbirth, Brumaliot

He’s also not the first ruler to style himself the patriae pater of a Turkic-speaking nation.

Are we going to sing together “Wind of Change”

Gee, thanks. Now I’ve got that in my head.

First, Turkmenistan has to rid itself of Niyazov worship. After a tentative start to this process, Berdimuhammedov appears to be making progress. The imposing murals of Turkmenbashi have begun disappearing throughout the nation.

Ed

I partly disagree with this. Niyazov seemed to serve the same purpose to Turkmenistan that Kemal Ataturk served in Turkey – being a substitute to Islam. Kemal did a great job in building a cult around himself and de-fanging Islam in Turkey – something that seems to be unravelling today.

Of course, difference here is that Turkmen, unlike Turks, have been abandoning Communism rather than Islam. But here’s the problem – Islam is one of the alternatives for them to look to, and unless Western style democracy takes root, it’s more likely that they’d turn to religion, which in their case means Islam. So Niyazov served a useful purpose. Now, if Berdimuhammedov (somehow, the ‘muhammed’ inside his name is unsettling) can follow that up with letting Western values take hold, that would be good.

However, countries do look to their roots for inspiration, and Turkmen, like Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Kazakhs are Turkic peoples, and would look to Turkey, and the spectacle of a Turkey slowly re-Islamizing could have its effects in Central Asia. However, if these countries recognize themselves, rather than Turkey, as the original Turks, there could be hope for them.

OTOH, the world’s worst Jihadi conqueror & mass murderer Tamerlane did originate in Turkestan.

Once Turkmenistan starts grasping everything that Niyazov kept out, including freedom, he may not have a lot of months left until Turkmen demand it of him.

Uhm, is this some kind of parody? Are we going to sing together “Wind of Change” in lieu of a sober analysis?

I though Borat was Glorious Leader.

easy on April 25, 2008 at 10:23 AM

Borat work for make profit glorious nation of Khazakstan.

There are the Russian months of the year. I understand that even during the USSR the word for January meant something along the lines of “Jesus died for your sins”. Really!

Saparmurat Niyazov

Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov

Wait…they changed the names of months to be more like these names?

I think the DNC will take to this custom. Ask Robert Byrd in the hundreds of places named after him in West Virginia.

RobCon on April 25, 2008 at 9:09 AM

Could we just revive the old tradition that people have things named after them until they are dead? It would end a lot a silliness. Well, I have to go the Thuja toilet now.