Re: [lojban] An alternative day-of-week list

[tijlan <jbotijlan@gmail.com>]

On 17 November 2011 14:20, Craig Daniel <craigbdaniel@gmail.com> wrote:
> The seven-day week arose independently in Latin and Germanic-speaking
> cultures, in the latter case at a time when a lunar calendar was in
> use which used direct observation of the moon to mark the beginning of
> the month (when the crescent moon is first visible after sunset), with
> some holidays on the full moon (including the first day of Yule). As
> the moon looks full for several days (I am told, though I don't know
> why it should be so, that this is especially true at higher latitudes
> such as those of Northern Europe), picking a day as the actual "full
> moon" date isn't a trivial observation to make the way the start of a
> lunation is - but you can get an almost right answer that is
> guaranteed to not be visibly wrong if you assume that it's two weeks
> after the day you observe the first crescent. That this heuristic was
> in actual use is not proven, but it seems likely; this would imply
> that the week is half a fortnight, rather than the fortnight being
> originally a term for two weeks.
>
> This certainly isn't culturally neutral - it's only useful in
> pre-modern lunar calendars! - but it is, at least, a basis in physical
> phenomena.

je'e ki'e

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