Slovene months have standard modern names derived from Latin names, as in most European languages. There are also archaic Slovene month names, mostly of
Slavic origin, which exist in both a standardized set as well as many variations.
Standard modern names
![Obaha gravestone - detail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Obaha_gravestone_-_detail.jpg)
The standard modern Slovene month names are ''januar'', ''februar'', ''marec'', ''april'', ''maj'', ''junij'', ''julij'', ''avgust'', ''september'', ''oktober'', ''november'', and ''december''. When writing dates, they appear after the day and are often represented by Arabic numerals, and sometimes with Roman numerals (e.g., ''19. 5.'' or ''19. V.'' 'May 19th'). Older variants include ''januvarij'' 'January', ''februvarij'' 'February', and ''marcij'' 'March'.
Standard archaic names
Many of the names in the standardized set of archaic Slovene month names first occur in the
Škofja Loka manuscript, written in 1466 by
Martin of Loka.
![Peterlin grave in Rob Slovenia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Peterlin_grave_in_Rob_Slovenia.jpg)
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January
January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...
'(sun) shining through';
[Snoj, Marko. 2003. ''Slovenski etimološki slovar''. 2nd edition. Ljubljana: Modrijan.][Vaštíková, Zuzana. 2012. ''Slovinské a české pranostiky''. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Ústav slavistiky.] modern Slovene
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February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...
perhaps 'dry' or 'cut' (influenced by ''svečnica'' 'Candlemas');
modern Slovene
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March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
'(earth) dry (enough for cultivation)';
modern Slovene
*
April
April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days.
April is commonly associated with ...
'small grass';
modern Slovene
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May
May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...
'large grass';
modern Slovene
*
June
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...
'flowers' (a translation of German ''Rosenmonat'');
modern Slovene
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July
July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...
'small sickle' (i.e., reaping);
modern Slovene
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August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
'large sickle' (i.e., reaping);
modern Slovene
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September
September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...
'nodding (fruit)';
modern Slovene
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October
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...
'wine flowing' (a translation of German ''Weinmonat'');
modern Slovene
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November
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...
'falling leaves';
modern Slovene
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December
December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
December got its name from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was or ...
'biting (cold)'
or 'clumped (earth)';
modern Slovene
Variant archaic month names
Multiple systems have been used in various Slovene-speaking regions, some of which were based on the names of saints (e.g., ''jurjevščak'' 'April', literally 'St. George's'), numbers (e.g., ''prvnik'' 'January', literally 'first'), or other features (e.g., ''vetrnik'' 'March', literally 'windy'). In the
Prekmurje dialect
Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect, East Slovene, or Wendish ( sl, prekmurščina, prekmursko narečje, hu, vend nyelv, muravidéki nyelv, Prekmurje dialect: ''prekmürski jezik, prekmürščina, prekmörščina, prekmör ...
of Slovene, the following system was attested: ''sečen'' 'January', ''süšec'' 'February', ''mali traven'' 'March', ''velki traven'' 'April', ''risalšček'' 'May', ''ivanšček'' 'June', ''jakopešček'' 'July', ''mešnjek'' 'August', ''mihalšček'' 'September', ''vsesvišček'' 'October', ''andrejšček'' 'November', ''božič'' 'December'.
By month
;January
Additional names include ''brumen'' (< Italian ''bruma'' 'depth of winter'),
[Pleteršnik, Maks. 1894/95. ''Slovensko-nemški slovar''. Ljubljana: Knezoškofijstvo.] ''sečen''
(related to ''suh'' 'dry' or from ''sek-'' 'cut'),
''ledenec''
and ''lednik''
(< ''led'' 'ice'), ''mali božičnjak''
and ''malobožičnjak''
(< ''mali božič'' 'Epiphany'),
[Reindl, Donald F. 1995. Evidence for the Germanic Origins of Some Slovene Month Names. ''Slovene Studies'' 15: 169–178.] ''prozimec''
(probably contamination of ''prosinec'' with ''zima'' 'winter'), ''prvnik''
(< ''prvi'' 'first'), and ''zimec''
(< ''zima'' 'winter').
The name ''prosinec'', associated with
millet bread
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets also ...
and the act of asking for something, was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript.
;February
Additional names include ''sečan''
and ''sečen''
(both related to ''suh'' 'dry' or from ''sek-'' 'cut'),
and ''sečni mesec'' (< ''sek-'' 'cut').
The name ''svečan'' may relate to
icicle
An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water falling from an object freezes.
Formation and dynamics
Icicles can form during bright, sunny, but subfreezing weather, when ice or snow melted by sunlight or some other heat source (such as ...
s or
Candlemas
Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presentati ...
.
This name originates from ''sičan'', written as ''svičan'' in the ''
New Carniolan Almanac'' from 1775 and changed to its final form by
Franc Metelko
Franc Serafin Metelko, also known as Fran Metelko (14 July 1789 – 27 December 1860) was a Slovene Roman Catholic priest, author, and philologist, best known for his proposal of a new script for the Slovene called the Metelko alphabet, which ...
in his ''New Almanac'' from 1824.
The name was also spelled ''sečan'', meaning "the month of cutting down of trees".
In 1848, a proposal was put forward in ''
Kmetijske in rokodelske novice
{{Unreferenced, date=July 2015
''Kmetijske in rokodelske novice'' ( en, Agricultural and Artisan News), frequently referred to simply as ''Novice'' (''News''), was a Slovene-language newspaper in the 19th century, which had an influential role i ...
'' by the
Slovene Society of Ljubljana to call this month ''talnik'' (related to ice melting), but it has not stuck. The idea was proposed by the priest and patriot
Blaž Potočnik Blaž may refer to:
* Blaž (given name), a masculine given name
* Blaž, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Blaž ( sr, Блаж) is a village in the municipality of Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated ...
. A name of February in Slovene was also ''vesnar'', after the mythological character
Vesna
Vesna (Cyrillic: Весна) was a mythological female character associated with youth and springtime in early Slavic mythology, particularly within Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Slovenia. Along with her male companion Vesnik, she was asso ...
.
;March
Additional names include ''brezen''
[Bajec, Anton et al. 2000. ''Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika''. Ljubljana: DZS.] and ''breznik''
(both from ''breza'' 'birch'),
[Bezlaj, France (ed.). 1977–2007. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika''. 5 volumes. Ljubljana: SAZU.] ''ebehtnik'' (< Middle High German ''ebennaht'' 'equinox'),
''gregorščak''
(< ''Gregor'' '(Saint) Gregory'), ''marcij'',
''postnik''
(< ''post'' 'Lent'), ''traven''
(< ''trava'' 'grass'), and ''tretnik''
(< ''tretji'' 'third'). The name ''sušec'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript.
;April
Additional names include ''brezen''
(< ''breza'' 'birch')
and ''jurijevščak''
(< ''Jurij'' '(Saint) George'). The name ''mali traven'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript.
;May
Additional names include ''cvetičnik''
and ''cvetnar'' (both < ''cvet'' 'flower'), ''majnik'',
''mlečen''
(< ''mleč'' 'chicory'),
''risalščak''
and ''rusalščak''
(< ''risale/rusale'' 'Pentecost'),
''rožni mesec'' (< ''roža'' 'flower'), and ''sviben''
(< ''sviba'' '(flowering of) dogwood'). The name ''veliki traven'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript.
;June
Additional names include ''bobov cvet''
(literally, '
broad bean
''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...
blossom') ''ivanjščak''
and ''šentjanževec''
(both referring to
Saint John's Day
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
), ''klasen''
(< ''klas'' 'head of grain'), ''kresnik''
(< ''kres'' 'bonfire', referring to
Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...
), ''prašnik''
(literally, 'stamen'), ''rožencvet''
and ''rožni cvet''
(both 'flower blossom'), and ''rženi cvet''
('rye blossom').
;July
Additional names include ''jakobnik''
and ''jakobščak''
(both referring to
Saint James's Day), ''pšeničnik''
(< ''pšenica'' 'wheat'), and ''žetnik''
(< ''žetev'' 'reaping').
;August
Additional names include ''kolovožnjak'',
''medmašnik'',
''mešnjak'',
''otavnik'',
''porcijunkula'',
''velikomašnjak'',
and ''vršenj''.
;September
Additional names include ''jesenik'',
''jesenščak'',
''kozoprsk'',
''miholščak'',
''poberuh'',
and ''šmihelščnik''.
;October
Additional names include ''kozoprsk'',
''listopad'',
''lukovščak'',
''moštnik'',
''obročnik'',
''repar'',
''repnik'',
''vinec'',
and ''vinščak''.
;November
Additional names include ''andrejščak'',
''gnilolist'',
''listognoj'',
''martinščak'',
''vsesvečnjak'',
and ''vsesvečak''.
;December
Additional names include ''kolednjak''
and ''veliki božičnjak''
(< ''božič'' 'Christmas').
See also
*
Croatian months
While many Slavic languages officially use Latin-derived names for the months of the year in the Gregorian calendar, there is also a set of older names for the twelve months that differs from the Latin month names, as they are of Slavic origin. In ...
*
Czech months
While many Slavic languages officially use Latin-derived names for the months of the year in the Gregorian calendar, there is also a set of older names for the twelve months that differs from the Latin month names, as they are of Slavic origin. In ...
*
Macedonian months
*
Slavic calendar
While many Slavic languages officially use Latin-derived names for the months of the year in the Gregorian calendar, there is also a set of older names for the twelve months that differs from the Latin month names, as they are of Slavic origin. In ...
References
External links
*http://projetbabel.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7222 A comprehensive table of Slavic and Baltic month names, explanation in French.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovene months
Slovene language
Months