Arabic names of Gregorian months

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The Arabic names of the months of the Gregorian calendar are usually phonetic Arabic pronunciations of the corresponding month names used in European languages. An exception is the Syriac calendar used in Iraq and the Levant, whose month names are inherited via Classical Arabic from the Babylonian and Hebrew lunisolar calendars and correspond to roughly the same time of year.[1]

Though the lunar Hijri calendar and solar Hijri calendar are prominent in the Mideast, the Gregorian calendar is and has been used in nearly all the countries of the Arab world, in many places long before European occupation.[citation needed] All Arab states use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. The names of the Gregorian months as used in Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen are widely regarded as standard across the Arab world,[citation needed] although their Classical Arabic names are often used alongside them.[citation needed] In other Arab countries, some modification or actual changes in naming or pronunciation of months are observed.

Iraq and the Levant

These names are used primarily in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, as well as by Arab citizens of Israel. Classical Arabic inherited the names from the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars, which are lunisolar. Although the Arabic names are cognate, they do not refer to the lunar months, as when the names are used in their original Babylonian or Hebrew context (indeed, the names of the Gregorian months in Hebrew are based on the German names of the Gregorian months, rather than the months of the Babylonian and Hebrew Calendars.) Nine of these names were used in the Ottoman Turkish calendar, of which five remain in use in the modern Turkish calendar.

No. Month Arabic name Transliteration Syriac cognate Hebrew cognate Transliteration Hebrew name Transliteration German name
1 January كانُون الثانِي Kānūn aṯ-Ṯānī ܟܢܘܢ ܒ טֵבֵת Ṭēḇēṯ יָנוּאָר Yānūʾār Januar
2 February شُباط Šubāṭ ܫܒܛ שְׁבָט Šəḇāṭ פֶבְּרוּאָר P̱ebrūʾār Februar
3 March آذار ʾĀḏār ܐܕܪ אֲדָר ʾĂḏār מֵרְץ Mērṣ März
4 April نَيْسان Naysān ܢܝܣܢ נִיסָן‎ Nīsān אַפְּרִיל ʾAprīl April
5 May أَيّار ʾAyyār ܐܝܪ אִיָּר ʾĪyyār מַאי Máy Mai
6 June حَزِيران Ḥazīrān ܚܙܝܪܢ סִיוָן Sīwān יוּנִי Yūnī Juni
7 July تَمُّوز Tammūz ܬܡܘܙ תַּמּוּז Tammūz יוּלִי Yūlī Juli
8 August آب ʾĀb ܐܒ אָב ʾĀḇ אוֹגוּסְט ʾÔḡūsṭ August
9 September أَيْلُول ʾAylūl ܐܝܠܘܠ אֱלוּל ʾĔlūl סֶפְּטֶמְבֶּר Sepṭember September
10 October تِشْرِين الْأَوَّل Tišrīn al-ʾAwwal ܬܫܪܝܢ ܐ תִּשׁרִי‎ Tišrī אוֹקְטוֹבֶּר ʾÔqṭôber Oktober
11 November تِشْرِين الثانِي Tišrīn aṯ-Ṯānī ܬܫܪܝܢ ܒ מַרְחֶשְׁוָן Marḥešwān נוׁבֶמְבֶּר Nôḇember November
12 December كانُون الْأَوَّل Kānūn al-ʾAwwal ܟܢܘܢ ܐ כִּסְלֵו Kislēw דֵּצֶמְבֶּר Dēṣember Dezember

Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Eastern Arabia

The names of the Gregorian months in Egypt, Sudan and Eastern Arabia are based on the old Latin names.[citation needed]

No. Month Arabic name Transliteration Latin name Egyptian pronunciation
1 January يَنايِر Yanāyir Ianuarius [jæ'næːjeɾ]
2 February فِبْرايِر Fibrāyir Februarius [febˈɾɑːjeɾ]
3 March مارِس Mārs/Māris Martius [ˈmæːɾes]
4 April أَبْرِيل / إبْرِيل ʾAbrīl / ʾIbrīl Aprilis [ʔɪbˈɾiːl, ʔæb-]
5 May مايُو Māyū Maius [ˈmæːju]
6 June يُونِيُو / يُونِية Yūniyū / Yūnyah Iunius [ˈjonjæ, -jo]
7 July يُولِيُو / يُولِية Yūliyū / Yūliyah Iulius [ˈjoljæ, -ju]
8 August أَغُسْطُس ʾAğusṭus Augustus [ʔɑˈɣostˤos, ʔoˈ-]
9 September سِبْتَمْبَر Sibtambar September [sebˈtæmbeɾ, -ˈtem-, -ˈtɑm-]
10 October أُكْتُوبَر ʾUktūbar October [okˈtoːbɑɾ, ek-, ɑk-]
11 November نُوفَمْبَر / نُوَنْبِر‎ Nūfambar / Nuwambar November [noˈvæmbeɾ, -ˈvem-, -ˈfæm-,
-ˈfem-, -ˈvɑm-, -ˈfɑm-, -ˈwem-, -ˈwæm-, -ˈwɑm-]
12 December دِيسَمْبَر Dīsambar December [deˈsæmbeɾ, -ˈsem-, -ˈsɑm-]

Libya (1969–2011)

The names of months used in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011) were derived from various sources, and were assembled after Muammar Gaddafi's seizure of power in 1969 and abolished in 2011 after the 17 February Revolution. The decision of changing calendar names was adopted in June 1986.[2] Although the Libyan calendar followed the same sequence of renamed Gregorian months, it counted the years from the death of the prophet Muhammad.[3] This reckoning was therefore ten years behind the Solar Hijri calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan.

No. Month Arabic name Transliteration Meaning[4]
1 January أَيّ النار Ayy an-Nār that of the fires
2 February النُوّار an-Nuwwār the mornings
3 March الرَبِيع ar-Rabīʿ the spring
al-Mirrij was also used[5]
4 April الطَيْر aṭ-Ṭayr the bird
5 May الماء al-Māʾ the water
6 June الصَيْف aṣ-Ṣayf the summer
7 July ناصِر Nāṣir from Gamal Abd el-Nasser
8 August هانِيبال Hānībāl from Hannibal Barca
9 September الفاتِح al-Fātiḥ the lightened
10 October التُمُور / الثُمُور at-Tumūr / aṯ-Ṯumūr the dates
11 November الحَرْث al-Ḥarṯ the tillage
12 December الكانُون al-Kānūn the canon

Algeria and Tunisia

The names of the Gregorian months in Algeria and Tunisia are based on the French names of the months, reflecting France 's long colonisation of these countries (1830–1962 in Algeria; 1881–1956 in Tunisia).

No. Month Arabic name Transliteration French name
1 January جانْفِي Jānvi janvier
2 February فِيفْرِي Fīvri février
3 March مارْس Mārs / Māris mars
4 April أفْرِيل ʾAvrīl avril
5 May ماي Mēy mai
6 June جْوان Jwān juin
7 July جْوِيلِْية Jwīlya juillet
8 August أُوت ʾŪt août
9 September سِبْتُمْبر Septōmbr septembre
10 October أُكْتُوبر ʾOktōbr octobre
11 November نُوفُمْبر Novōmbr novembre
12 December دِيسُمْبر Desōmbr décembre

[1]

Morocco

As Morocco was long part of the Roman Empire, the long-standing agricultural Berber calendar of the country preserves the Julian calendar and (in modified form) the names of its months. There are regional variations of the Berber calendar, since some communities did not recognise the Julian 29 February in century years where the Gregorian calendar had no equivalent date. When Morocco adopted the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, the names of the months were taken from this local tradition.

No. Month Arabic name Transliteration
1 January يَنّايِر Yannāyir
2 February فِبْرايِر Fibrāyir
3 March مارْس Mārs
4 April إبْرِيل ʾIbrīl
5 May ماي Māy
6 June يُونِيُّو Yūniyyū
7 July يُولِيُّوز Yūliyyūz
8 August غُشْت Ğušt
9 September شُتَنْبِر Šutanbir
10 October أُكْتُوبِر ʾUktūbir
11 November نُوَنْبِر Nuwanbir
12 December دُجَنْبِر Dujanbir

See also

References