5.5. The months and the days



5.5.1. The months


Japanese lost the names of months hundreds of years ago, and now months are called with sequential numbers. After a number, just say the word (ga)(tu) /ga tu/ "gatsu", which means month.

EnglishJapanese
WordMeaning
January
Hiragana:(i)(ti)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:itigatu'
Romanization:ichigatsu
The first month
February
Hiragana:(ni)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:nigatu'
Romanization:nigatsu
The second month
March
Hiragana:(sa)(n)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:sa'Ngatu
Romanization:sangatsu
The third month
April
Hiragana:(si)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:sigatu'
Romanization:shigatsu
The fourth month
May
Hiragana:(go)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:go'gatu
Romanization:gogatsu
The fifth month
June
Hiragana:(ro)(ku)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:rokugatu'
Romanization:rokugatsu
The sixth month
July
Hiragana:(si)(ti)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:sitigatu'
Romanization:shichigatsu
The seventh month
August
Hiragana:(ha)(ti)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:hatigatu'
Romanization:hachigatsu
The eighth month
September
Hiragana:(ku)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:ku'gatu
Romanization:kugatsu
The ninth month
October
Hiragana:(zi)(small yu)(u)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:zyuugatu'
Romanization:gatsu
The tenth month
November
Hiragana:(zi)(small yu)(u)(i)(ti)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:zyuuitigatu'
Romanization:ichigatsu
The eleventh month
December
Hiragana:(zi)(small yu)(u)(ni)(ga)(tu)
Phonemes:zyuunigatu'
Romanization:nigatsu
The twelfth month

For the names of the months, the common digit names of 4, 7, and 9 are not used. (i.e. (yo)(n)(ga)(tu) /yo' N ga tu/ "yongatsu", (na)(na)(ga)(tu) /na na ga tu'/ "nanagatsu", and (ki)(small yu)(u)(ga)(tu) /kyu' u ga tu/ "kyûgatsu" are not used.)


5.5.2. The ancient names of the months


Here is a list of the ancient names of the months. Just skip this paragraph if you are not interested.

EnglishJapanese
WordMeaning
January
Hiragana:(mu)(tu)(ki)
Phonemes:mu'tuki
Romanization:mutsuki
The month of friendship
February
Hiragana:(ki)(sa)(ra)(gi)
Phonemes:kisaragi
Romanization:kisaragi
The month of the rebirth of plants
March
Hiragana:(ya)(yo)(i)
Phonemes:yayoi
Romanization:yayoi
The month of growing plants
April
Hiragana:(u)(du)(ki)
Phonemes:u'duki
Romanization:uzuki
The month of the rabbit, which is the fourth animal of the Chinese twelve animals order.
May
Hiragana:(sa)(tu)(ki)
Phonemes:satuki
Romanization:satsuki
The month of rice sprouts
June
Hiragana:(mi)(na)(du)(ki)
Phonemes:mina'duki
Romanization:minazuki
The month of water
July
Hiragana:(hu)(mi)(du)(ki)
Phonemes:humi'duki
Romanization:humizuki
The month of letters
August
Hiragana:(ha)(du)(ki)
Phonemes:ha'duki
Romanization:hazuki
The month of leaves
September
Hiragana:(na)(ga)(tu)(ki)
Phonemes:naga'tuki
Romanization:nagatsuki
The month of long nights
October
Hiragana:(ka)(n)(na)(du)(ki)
Phonemes:kaNna'duki
Romanization:kannazuki
The month of gods
November
Hiragana:(si)(mo)(tu)(ki)
Phonemes:simo'tuki
Romanization:shimotsuki
The month of frost
December
Hiragana:(si)(wa)(su)
Phonemes:siwasu
Romanization:shiwasu
The month of busy people


5.5.3. The days of the week


The days of the week are named after the sun, the moon, and planets. They are translations of the days of the week in European languages such as Latin. Sunday is the first day of the week in Japan.

EnglishJapanese
WordMeaning
Sunday
Hiragana:(ni)(ti)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:nitiyo'ubi
Romanization:nichibi
The day of the sun ((ta)(i)(yo)(u) /ta' i yo u/ "taiyô")
Monday
Hiragana:(ge)(tu)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:getuyo'ubi
Romanization:getsubi
The day of the moon ((tu)(ki) /tu ki'/ "tsuki")
Tuesday
Hiragana:(ka)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:kayo'ubi
Romanization:kabi
The day of Mars ((ka)(se)(i) /ka se i/ "kasei")
Wednesday
Hiragana:(su)(i)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:suiyo'ubi
Romanization:suibi
The day of Mercury ((su)(i)(se)(i) /su i se i/ "suisei")
Thursday
Hiragana:(mo)(ku)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:mokuyo'ubi
Romanization:mokubi
The day of Jupiter ((mo)(ku)(se)(i) /mo ku se i/ "mokusei")
Friday
Hiragana:(ki)(n)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:kiNyo'ubi
Romanization:kin'bi
The day of Venus ((ki)(n)(se)(i) /ki N se i/ "kinsei")
Saturday
Hiragana:(do)(yo)(u)(bi)
Phonemes:doyo'ubi
Romanization:dobi
The day of Saturn ((do)(se)(i) /do se i/ "dosei")

The suffix (yo)(u)(bi) /yo u bi/ "yôbi" in the days of the week means shine + day. The suffix (se)(i) /se i/ "sei" in the planets' names means star. The prefixes (ni)(ti) /ni' ti/ "nichi" and (ge)(tu) /ge' tu/ "getsu" of Sunday and Monday come from different words that mean the sun and the moon respectively.


5.5.4. The seasons


The Japanese word for season is (ki)(se)(tu) /ki'setu/ "KI se tsu". There are four season names in Japan.

EnglishJapaneseMonths
Spring
Hiragana:(ha)(ru)
Phonemes:ha'ru
Romanization:haru
March, April, May
Summer
Hiragana:(na)(tu)
Phonemes:natu'
Romanization:natsu
June, July, August
Autumn
Hiragana:(a)(ki)
Phonemes:a'ki
Romanization:aki
September, October, November
Winter
Hiragana:(hu)(yu)
Phonemes:huyu'
Romanization:fuyu
December, January, February

Actually Japan also has the following season from the mid of June to the mid of July, in which season there is much more rain than any other season:

Hiragana:(tu)(yu)
Phonemes:tuyu
Romanization:tsuyu

It is called the rainy season or just tsuyu in English.


5.5.5. The days of the month


To my regret, the names of the days of the month in Japanese are not as easy as the names of the months, because they preserve ancient names.

The day 11th through 31st except for 14th, 20th, and 24th have straighforward names. Their names are the combination of the number and word (ni)(ti) /niti/ "ni chi", which means a day. For example, the 15th day is called (zi)(small yu)(u)(go)(ni)(ti) /zyu u go' ni ti/ "jûgonichi" in Japanese. The word (ni)(ti) /ni ti/ "nichi" sometimes becomes (n)(ti) /N ti/ "nchi" in colloquial Japanese.

For other days, please look at the table below. Notice that they are similar to the traditional number names. The suffix (ka) /ka/ "ka" (or possibly (u)(ka) /u ka/ "uka") was a counter for days in ancient Japanese. Using (ni)(ti) /ni ti/ "nichi" for the days listed below is understandable, so don't hesitate to use (ni)(ti) /ni ti/ "nichi" when you can't remember their real names.

EnglishJapanese
WordMeaning
1
Hiragana:(tu)(i)(ta)(ti)
Phonemes:tuitati'
Romanization:tsuitachi
The beginning of the month.
It came from (tu)(ki) /tu ki/ "tsuki" (month, moon) + (ta)(tu) /ta' tu/ "tatsu" (stand up)
2
Hiragana:(hu)(tu)(ka)
Phonemes:hutuka
Romanization:futsuka
The second day
3
Hiragana:(mi)(small tu)(ka)
Phonemes:miQka
Romanization:mikka
The third day
4
Hiragana:(yo)(small tu)(ka)
Phonemes:yoQka
Romanization:yokka
The fourth day
5
Hiragana:(i)(tu)(ka)
Phonemes:ituka
Romanization:itsuka
The fifth day
6
Hiragana:(mu)(i)(ka)
Phonemes:muika
Romanization:muika
The sixth day
7
Hiragana:(na)(no)(ka)
Phonemes:nanoka
Romanization:nanoka
The seventh day
8
Hiragana:(yo)(u)(ka)
Phonemes:youka
Romanization:ka
The eighth day
9
Hiragana:(ko)(ko)(no)(ka)
Phonemes:kokonoka
Romanization:kokonoka
The ninth day
10
Hiragana:(to)(o)(ka)
Phonemes:tooka
Romanization:tooka
The tenth day
14
Hiragana:(zi)(small yu)(u)(yo)(small tu)(ka)
Phonemes:zyu'uyoQka
Romanization:yokka
The fourteenth day
10
(zi)(small yu)(u)
+ 4th day
(yo)(small tu)(ka)
20
Hiragana:(ha)(tu)(ka)
Phonemes:hatuka
Romanization:hatsuka
The twentieth day
24
Hiragana:(ni)(zi)(small yu)(u)(yo)(small tu)(ka)
Phonemes:ni'zyuuyoQka
Romanization:niyokka
The twenty-fourth day
20
(ni)(zi)(small yu)(u)
+ 4th day
(yo)(small tu)(ka)
(others)
Hiragana:A day number +(ni)(ti)
Phonemes:niti
Romanization:nichi
This is a suffix added to a number.


5.5.5. How to read date and time


In Japanese, it is necessary to say the biggest part first, then go down to smaller parts. This is because of the head-last rule of Japanese. This rule is applied not only for date but also for time and addresses.

Dates are read in the following order: a year, a month, a day of the month, a day of the week. To read a year, just add (ne)(n) /ne N/ "nen", which means a year, after the number.

Example: "Monday, June 16th, 1997" in English is 1997 (ne)(n) 6 (ga)(tu) 16 (ni)(ti) (ge)(tu)(yo)(u)(bi) /se' N kyu' u hya ku kyu' u zyu u na na' ne N ro ku ga tu' zyu u ro ku ni ti' ge tu yo' u bi/ "sen kyûhyaku kyûjû nananen rokugatsu jûrokunichi getsuyôbi" in Japanese. The Japanese style of abbreviation of the date is 1997/6/16 (year/month/day).

Please remember the American style and the European style are also different from each other.

American: day-of-week, month/day/year
European: day-of-week, day/month/year
Asian: year/month/day, day-of-week

To read time, add (zi) /zi/ "ji" after hours, (hu)(n) /hu N/ "fun" after minutes, and (bi)(small yo)(u) /byo u/ "byô" after seconds. For instance, 11:29:07 is 11 (zi) 29 (hu)(n) 7 (bi)(small yo)(u) /zyu u i ti' zi ni' zyu u kyu' u hu N na na' byo u/ "jûichiji nijû kyûfun nanabyô" in Japanese.

When you say both date and time, say date first. Please remember the biggest part comes first in Japanese.


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Copyright(C) TAKASUGI Shinji (ts@sf.airnet.ne.jp)