海角大神

In many languages, words for the seasons highlight a key characteristic of the natural world at that time of year. This connection is sometimes obvious, as we saw last week with New England鈥檚 semiserious 鈥渕ud season鈥� and 鈥渟tick season.鈥� 聽

In many European languages, the connections are harder to discern, having become hidden in the words鈥� etymologies. The French and Italian words for 鈥渟ummer鈥� 鈥� 茅迟茅 and estate, respectively 鈥� derive ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root that means 鈥渂urn, fire.鈥� Invierno, inverno, and hiver 鈥� Spanish, Italian, and French for 鈥渨inter鈥� 鈥� come from a PIE root that means 鈥渇rost, snow.鈥� Russian and many other Slavic languages got their word for winter, zima, from the same root. 聽

There is nothing mysterious about the English fall and spring 鈥� leaves of deciduous trees 鈥渇all鈥� in autumn and 鈥渟pring forth鈥� in spring. Until around 1500, though, the period from roughly September to November was named for what was going on with food crops, not trees. It was harvest, cognate with the German word for the season, Herbst, from a PIE root meaning 鈥渢o gather, pluck.鈥澛�

The world contains thousands of languages, many of which divide the year along much more fine-grained criteria. According to speakers of Tiwi, who live in a tropical climate on islands in the northern part of Australia, there are three main seasons: Kumunupunari (March to August), 鈥渢he dry season of fire and smoke鈥�; Tiyari (September to November), 鈥渢he season of hot weather and high humidity鈥�; and Jamutakari (December to February), 鈥渢he wet season.鈥� There are 13 additional 鈥渕inor鈥� seasons, including Milikitorinari, 鈥渟eason of hot feet,鈥� when the ground is too hot to walk on, and Mumpikari, 鈥渟eason of muddy possum tracks,鈥� when the rains first fall after the dry season and possums are easier to hunt. These seasons encode Tiwi culture, serving as an oral guide to traditional ways of life. 聽

The language with the most seasons is Japanese, with 72. Today, the Japanese calendar is organized around the typical temperate-zone four seasons, but originally Japan used the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which has 24. Around 1,000 years ago, these were further divided into 72 鈥渕icroseasons鈥� called kou. The U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network explains that these kou present 鈥渁 way of looking at the year through gradual transitions in nature.鈥� They are like Tiwi seasons, although less practical and more poetic. The ancient Japanese year begins with Harukaze k艒ri o toku, 鈥淓ast wind melts the ice,鈥� and ends with 鈥淗ens start laying eggs.鈥� On April 4, it鈥檚 kaminari sunawachi koe o hassu 鈥� happy 鈥渟eason of distant thunder鈥�!