Mastery of any modern language is impossible without knowledge of basic words and phrases. These include days of the week whose names are widely used and are necessarily equivalent in all languages of the world. When planning a trip to one of the most romantic countries in the world - Italy - knowledge of what the days of the week are called in Italian will become a prerequisite.
Name of days of the week in Italian language: origin
The origin of the names of the days of the week in the Italian language is unusual and entertaining. As in all Romance languages, the days of the week in the official language of Italy were originally formed from the names of the planets and objects of the solar system of the planets.
Monday got the name from the word Luna. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday bear names that simultaneously belong to both planets and deities in Roman mythology:
- Marte is the god of war;
- Mercurio - god of trade and profit;
- Giove - the supreme deity to whom supreme power belongs;
- Venere is the goddess of love, beauty, prosperity and fertility.
Thus, the first day of the week owes its name to the moon , the Earth’s satellite, and the four weekdays that follow it are named after four of the five planets of the Solar System that can be seen with the naked eye: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus.
The original Latin names for Saturday and Sunday also came from the names of the objects of the Solar System - the Sun itself and the planet Saturn. Saturday was called Saturno (Saturn), and Sunday - Sole (Sun). Later, weekend names were replaced by religious alternative names. Saturno changed to Sabato - a name that originates from the Hebrew word shabbath - a day of rest. Sole has been replaced by Domenica or Lord's Day.
Days of the week in Italian: spelling and pronunciation
The pronunciation of Italian words in most cases coincides with their spelling. But still, the lessons of Italian, as well as most languages that are foreign, become much clearer when there is a transcription to the studied words and phrases.
- Lunedi [lunedi] - Monday.
- Martedi [Martedi] - Tuesday.
- Mercoledi [Merkaledi] - Wednesday.
- Giovedi [JovadI] - Thursday.
- Venerdi [Andree] - Friday.
- Sabato [Sabato] - Saturday.
- Domenica [DomEnika] - Sunday.