Dias da Semana em Portugues

-

Language generally evolves slowly. New words appear and old-fashioned ones disappear from speech organically. Sometimes invaders supplant the local language with the tongue of their homelands, or immigrants bring vocabularies that get stirred into the local dialect. Sometimes, however, parts of the language change by decree. So it was for the Portuguese. 

 In medieval times, the town of Dumium (now Dumio, a suburb of Braga) was a religious capital of the Sueves Kingdom. It had been founded by the Suevi escaping the Huns of what is now Germany and Austria in 463 AD. In the 6th century, Dumium received a missionary priest, named Martin (Saint Martin of Braga), who came from what is now Hungary.  Martin of Braga founded several monasteries and worked to convert the Suevi from their Arian beliefs to Roman Catholicism.  He was also a missionary against rural paganism. 

 Martin was consecrated Bishop of Braga in 550 AD. As bishop, he was close to the king and had considerable power.  He used this leverage to pursued the king to change what was pagan in the local language -  most notably, the days of the week.  Other Latin-based and Germanic languages - including English - refer to both the moon and pagan gods in the days of the week.In English, these are: Sunday (the sun's day), Monday (the moon's day), Tuesday (Tor's day, for the Norse god of war - also known as Tiu or Twia among Germanic tribes), Wednesday (Woden's day - for Odin, the Norse messenger to the gods), Thursday (Thor's day, after the Norse god of thunder and lightning), Friday (Freya'd day, for the wife of Woden and the Norse goddess of love), and Saturday (Saturn’s Day, for Saturn, a Roman god associated with wealth, plenty and time).  In Latin, they are: diēs Sōlis (for Sōl, the sun ), diēs Lūnae (for Luna, the moon), diēs Mārtis (for Mars), diēs Mercuriī (for Mercurius, or Mercury), diēs Iovis (for Iuppiter, or Jupiter), diēs Veneris (for Venus), and diēs Saturnī (for Saturnus, or Saturn).To wipe out these pagan references, it was decreed that the days of the week in the Portuguese kingdom would be:
  • Domingo (Sunday), God's day, and the first day of the week.
  • Segunda-feira (Monday), meaning the second fair or market day of the week. 
  • Terça-feira  (Tuesday), the third fair/market day.
  • Quarta-feira (Wednesday), the fourth fair/market day.
  • Quinta-feira (Thursday), the fifth fair/market day.
  • Sexta-feira (Friday), the sixth fair/market day.
  • Sábado (Saturday), the sabbath, or seventh day of the week.
In daily conversations, people usually drop the word "feira", because it's understood that "segunda" means "segunda-feira".In written language, the days are often shown Segunda-feira - 2ª; Terça-feira - 3ª; Quarta-feira - 4ª; Quinta-feira - 5ª; Sexta-feira - 6ª; Sábado - Sab.; and Domingo - Dom. A shop sign might read: Aberto de 2ª a 6ª das 9.00 às 18.00. - Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In my experience, however, if it is a restaurant, it will be closed on a random day (usually 2ª or 3ª) and will also be closed between 14.00 and 19.00 (restaurants close between lunch and the civilized dinner hour of 7 p.m.).
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We, the bones that are here await yours

-
Image
It's either the creepiest example of recycling ever, or a sobering reminder of how fleeting this life is. Either way, the  Capela Dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, in Évora is among my  favorite Portugal side trips, so far. The bones used in this chapel are those of the inhabitants of the area who were disinterred from the local cemetery to make room for newer corpses.   Beyond the somewhat macabre idea of creating a chapel from actual human bones, the place held a weird beauty, as well. The bones weren't simply stacked to make a space - the chapel is laid out meticulously in the same baroque style as the cathedrals of the day - with "decorative" columns of human bones and high arches outlined with skull and filled with bone filigree. There was something oddly peaceful about the place. The only bones that were even slightly disturbing were the complete human skeletons laid out in display in one room - a reminder that these are not simply architectural elements, bu
Read more

Procuro um apartamento em Sesimbra

-
Image
Quando nós fomos no Sesimbra, nós visitamos uma corretora de imóveis. Nós procuramos um apartamento barato. Nós queríamos um apartamento com três quartos, uma cozinha pequena com os moveis, um elevador, e um terraço mas não uma varanda. Sesimbra tem uma boa praia, nós queríamos de ver a praia de nosso terraço. Quando nós retornamos de Estados Unidos, nós  conversamos regularmente com essa corretora de imóveis. Nós temos esperança de um apartamento perfeito. When we went to Sesimbra, we visited a real estate agent. We're looking for a cheap apartment. We wanted a three bedroom apartment, a small kitchen with furniture, an elevator, and a terrace  - but not a veranda. Sesimbra has a beautiful beach, and we wanted to see the beach from our terrace. When we returned from the United States, we talked regularly with this real estate agent. We have hope to find the perfect apartment!
Read more

Everything is Uphill

-
Image
Three of Portugal's four major largest are situated on major rivers. Lisbon sits near the mouth of the Tagus River, Porto at the mouth of the Douro, and Coimbra on the Mondego. Only Braga is more or less landlocked, lying between the Cávado and Este rivers. The landscape of Portugal's river cities rises rather steeply from the shoreline, with one or more major hills defining both the low town (baixa) and high town (alta). For the traveler, this means wonderful vistas and a LOT of uphill travel. There are, of course, elevators/funiculars to get to the top of most hills, but the views are much better from between the buildings and among the staircases.   In Coimbra there is one major hill that leads up to the area where the University is located. The hill is very steep, although the view over the river is beautiful. There is also a "shortcut" - a very old, very steep set of stairs up the hillside to the top of Coimbra Alta with no handrails, just stairs carved int
Read more