Received: from mail-ww0-f61.google.com ([74.125.82.61]:40765) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128) (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1RR4eR-0006qP-Ql; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:26 -0800 Received: by wwf27 with SMTP id 27sf4161601wwf.16 for ; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:16 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=googlegroups.com; s=beta; h=x-beenthere:received-spf:mime-version:sender:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:x-original-sender :x-original-authentication-results:reply-to:precedence:mailing-list :list-id:x-google-group-id:list-post:list-help:list-archive :list-subscribe:list-unsubscribe:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=wpb+Px8q+XeLCguPsweDsk0nWjU93iU6cioYQ4pHPDk=; b=zv7KMdQBJZkrXAuxrbLSPUdq4NrWv3teWe9478qDXdhxfp97etzIPFAtE5uhUYXica CITO8HZPPOzDgJNzmS/TuAFvE1wczSkx6kCuDsEwGjyjwkJSbCABLyZdzID/1TpE+ygR GFZs9wkdFqhyeFRxK34X6NEXlsSG4BSfFWB70= Received: by 10.180.92.106 with SMTP id cl10mr4817519wib.2.1321546633815; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:13 -0800 (PST) X-BeenThere: lojban@googlegroups.com Received: by 10.14.100.66 with SMTP id y42ls751506eef.0.canary; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.205.132.13 with SMTP id hs13mr5564417bkc.0.1321546632369; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.205.132.13 with SMTP id hs13mr5564416bkc.0.1321546632356; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) Received: from mail-fx0-f53.google.com (mail-fx0-f53.google.com [209.85.161.53]) by gmr-mx.google.com with ESMTPS id b13si1314043fak.0.2011.11.17.08.17.12 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER); Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of paskios@gmail.com designates 209.85.161.53 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.161.53; Received: by faan15 with SMTP id n15so3672604faa.12 for ; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.182.141.68 with SMTP id rm4mr7236458obb.23.1321546632031; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:12 -0800 (PST) Sender: lojban@googlegroups.com Received: by 10.182.57.228 with HTTP; Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:17:11 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: <11134151.93.1321473096305.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@yqcm23> <201111170113.10114.phma@phma.optus.nu> Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:17:11 +0000 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [lojban] An alternative day-of-week list From: tijlan To: lojban@googlegroups.com X-Original-Sender: paskios@gmail.com X-Original-Authentication-Results: gmr-mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of paskios@gmail.com designates 209.85.161.53 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=paskios@gmail.com; dkim=pass (test mode) header.i=@gmail.com Reply-To: lojban@googlegroups.com Precedence: list Mailing-list: list lojban@googlegroups.com; contact lojban+owners@googlegroups.com List-ID: X-Google-Group-Id: 1004133512417 List-Post: , List-Help: , List-Archive: List-Subscribe: , List-Unsubscribe: , Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Spam-Score: -0.7 (/) X-Spam_score: -0.7 X-Spam_score_int: -6 X-Spam_bar: / On 17 November 2011 10:02, Jonathan Jones wrote: > Based on the information on that page, only one of those examples of > other-than-7-day weeks is in use today, that being the Javanese 5-day one= . > All the others are either clearly no longer used or as in the case of the > Nigerian 4-day week, ambiguous as to their current week. > > In contrast, the 7-day week is used worldwide. I don't doubt it would be > very difficult indeed to find a single culture on this planet that doesn'= t > use the 7-day week - even if they also use a other-than-7-day week. > > Regardless, the reason for Lojban going with a 7-day week is simple: The > vast majority, if not the entirety, of the world, has 7 days in their wee= ks, > which makes things rather simple to decide. I understand that. Most people on this planet are not only familiar with at least one of the 7-day week systems but also organize their life according to such cultural time units. The majority of Westerners care about which day is "Sunday" and plan on particular activities accordingly often because that's when they are given mutual (socially meaningful) time-off and entertainment opportunities by tradition. As for those countries that didn't have "Sunday" as a day of rest or a holiday ("Holy Day") or even the distinction between working / non-working days, especially the non-Western or non-Christian communities, they would begin observing it in the same way the Westerners did, especially since the colonial period, because, as you say, it would "make things rather simple to decide" *in global hegemonic situations*. Otherwise, the week system could be considered unnecessary, unhelpful, or even confusing. It was introduced to Japan before the 10th century C.E. but didn't take on until 9 centuries later during its rather compulsive Westernization period, because month days were useful enough for day-calculating businesses such as lending. So, the point is not only about "how many days should a week have" but also "why should there be any week in the first place". As far as Earthlings are concerned: one rotation makes one day; one revolution makes one year; what natural, scientifically observable basis makes 7 days 1 "week"? On 17 November 2011 11:12, Sebastian Fr=F6jd wrote: > I agree with Jonathan. The 7-day week is used worldwide and should theref= ore > be the lojbanic standard by default. There are many conventions that are worldwide but haven't been made a Lojbanic standard. I think there ought to be other criteria for deciding on such a matter in addition to historic prevalence, especially for use in Lojban, where cultural assumptions are supposed to be critically challenged. > So I think everyone is free to use alternative standards as long as it cl= ear > from context or explicit expressed as seltau or put in the standard place= . If I said "mi dansu ca la [Sunday-cmevla]" for people in the U.S., I would be implying mostly the first day of week that is a holiday; if for Europeans, the last day that is a holiday; if for the Middle Easterners, the second day that is a working day; and so on. Lojban doesn't really need to officially dictate which one is "the first day of week". mu'o --=20 You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "= lojban" group. To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegrou= ps.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojban= ?hl=3Den.