[lojban-beginners] Re: Seasons' Greetings

[der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>]

>> Perhaps "lesser solstice" as the Winter Solstice is the shortest day
>> of the year?
> The problem is, it is only the shortest day of the year in the
> northern hemisphere.

Not quite.  The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year.  In
the northern hemisphere, this is the solstice in December; in the
southern, the one in June.  (Actually, that's if you're outside the
tropics; I'd have to think about it a lot more to figure out whether
it's true in the tropics.)

I think what lujvo you want depends on whether you are trying to say

- Winter solstice at some relevant place
- Summer solstice at some relevant place
- December/sun-in-Capricorn solstice
- June/sun-in-Cancer solstice
- Aphelion
- Perehelion
- Religious observance corresponding to one of the above (eg, Yule,
  Hanukkah, Midsummer, etc)
- Secular observance corresponding to one or more of the above (eg,
  Christmas, for the USA or Canada)

These are all conceptually distinct, and thus should ideally have
distinct terms.  (Note that it is, as far as we know, pure coincidence
that our planet's aphelion and perehelion fall anywhere near our
solstices - that is, that the plane including both ecliptic north and
the Earth's axis of rotation is anywhere near to parallel to the plane
including both ecliptic north and the major axis of the Earth's orbit.)

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