History: English Days of the Week
And the Roman and German influence on the language
The world we know follows the seven-day time unit to conduct its daily routines. It also acts as a cycle for rest. Little do people know or question the names of the days of the week.
These days were named after gods of polytheistic religions and classical planets.
The arrangement is similar to a week in the Bible with the first day being Sunday — a day of worship for Christians — and the last day being the Sabbath — day of rest for Jews.
The order of the seven-day week depends on geography. For instance, Saturday is marked as the first day in middle-east Asia while others follow the ISO standard with Monday being the first day.
This article sheds light on the Roman and Germanic origins of English names for the days of the week, the names that many people — native and non-native English speakers — use in their vernacular.
Origin
The first use of the 7-day system without reference to the phases of the moon is attributed to Judaism. Other ancient empires later adopted the system: Persian, Gupta and Tang.
Influence of Roman Culture
Romans predominantly used an old eight-day cycle called the nundinal system or Nundinae. Even though the new system was widely known throughout the empire during the first century AD, it did not immediately replace the Nundinae. Nundinae probably fell out of use by the time Emperor Constantine adopted the seven-day week for official use in 321 AD.
The reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus saw the introduction of the designation of days to planets. At that time, two groups of gods ruled European hearts: Northern and Southern European groups of gods. Even though the names of gods and goddesses differed, the characters and powers were similar.
Romans, devotees of the Southern European group of gods & goddesses, named the days in the following order: Diana the moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday, Saturn for Saturday, and Apollo/Sol for Sunday. Since the province of Britannia (modern-day England) came under Roman rule, the same nomenclature was applied.
Names used for days in Latin, Roman vernacular:1. Sunday
- dies Sōlis (di-es Saw-lis/sow-lis)
- Sol, the sun god2. Monday
- dies Lūnae (di-es Lunai)
- Luna: female embodiment of the moon3. Tuesday
- dies Martis (di-es Martis)
- Mars: god of war4. Wednesday
- dies Mercuriī (di-es Mer-coo-ri-ee)
- Mercury: the god of messages
- He also served as the guide of souls to the underworld.
- Similar to Hermes, the Greek god5. Thursday
- dies Iovis (di-es yo-vis)
- Jupiter: the god of thunder and lightning
- the king of the gods in Ancient Roman religion and mythology.
- Similar to Zeus, the Greek God6. Friday
- dies Veneris (di-es ve-na-ras)
- Venus: Roman goddess, whose functions encompassed love.7. Saturday
- dies Saturnī (di-es sa-tur-nee)
- Saturn: god of agriculture.
German Conquest of Britannia
During the early 5th Century AD, the Western Roman Empire abandoned Britannia and informed the inhabitants to “look to their own defense.”
This dire state of affairs resulted in the Celts attacking them from the north and west — from Scotland and Ireland respectively. To counter them, Romano-Britons sought protection from Germanic tribes: Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Jutes. In return, the tribes were awarded lands for cultivating in the south-east (modern-day Kent, England).
Angles and Saxons with assistance from Frisians and Jutes took advantage of the crisis and wiped out the Romano-Briton populace from England. The amalgamation of these Germanic dialects subsequently evolved into the Anglo-Saxon language, more popularly known as Old English.
The Anglo-Saxons established the kingdom of England and the modern English language.
We do not know if Romano-British culture influenced Anglo-Saxons, but the Old English names for the days do showcase minor impact. Let’s look at the Old English names and gods/goddesses along with names in used in modern German and French.
Names used for days in Latin, Roman vernacular:1. Sunday
- sunnandæg (Sun-nan-day/Sun-nan-dag)
- Sol: Sun’s day
- Sonntag in German2. Monday
- mōnandæg (Monan-day/Monan-dag)
- Moon’s day
- In german, Montag
- After the goddess Luna
- In french, Lundi3. Tuesday
- tiwesdæg (Tee-wes-day/Tee-wes-dag)
- Tiu’s day
- Tiu was the god of war and the sky
- Mars from Southern group of Gods and Tiu from northern group of Gods of Europe)
- In french, the equivalent for tuesday is mardi4. Wednesday
- wōdnesdæg (Wod-nes-day/Wod-nes-dag)
- Woden’s day
- Woden/Odin was the Chief god
- French equivalent: mercredi for Mercury, messenger god5. Thursday
- þunresdæg (Thun-res-day/Thun-res-dag)
- Thor’s day
- The god of thunder and lightning
- German equivalent: donnerstag; donner means thunder
- French equivalent: jeudi after Jove(Jupiter)6. Friday
- frīgedæg (fri-y-day/fri-g-dag)
- Freya’s day
- German equivalent: freitag
- Goddess of love
- Venus: Roman goddess, whose functions encompassed love
- French equivalent: vendredi7. Saturday
- sæterndæg (Saturnes-day/Saturnes-dag)
- Saturn's day
- Saturn, god of agriculture
- German equivalent: samstag
- French equivalent: samedi
Modern English days of the week names and their linkage to Latin and Anglo-Saxon languages
From the aforementioned tables, we can notice the similarities between German and Old English names. Still, the variance is enormous between French and English as Latin profoundly inspired the former.
Despite the later influence of Vikings and Normans on English culture, Anglo-Saxon culture and dialect never perished. Instead, it evolved into modern English, which does not have grammatical genders, unlike German and French.
