Re: [lojban] weekday names

[Ivan A Derzhanski <iad@MATH.BAS.BG>]

Pierre Abbat wrote:
> >Tuesday is Day 2 in the Slavic reckoning,
> >but Day 3 in Greek and Day 4 in Swahili.
> 
> 4 in Swahili? News to me. What is the word?

_Jumanne_, ie Day Four (_nne_) after Friday (_Juma_).

> As to the Slavic reckoning, they are in Russian:
[...]
> So although Tuesday is the second day, and Monday is the first
> (po as a verbal prefix may indicate the beginning of an action),

No, _po_ means `after' here.  Monday is the day after Sunday,
which is the original meaning of the word _nedelja_ (currently
`week' in Russian, but still `Sunday' in Bulgarian), from _ne-_
`not' + del-_ `work', ie `day off'.

> Wednesday is the middle, so Sunday must be the zeroeth.

Sunday was first, and Wednesday fourth and therefore central,
in an older system of which the name _sreda_ for Wednesday is
a fossil.  As the names of Tuesday, Thursday and Friday attest,
however, that system has been superseded by one in which Monday
is first and Sunday seventh.

--Ivan