Many who studied English at school remember that the days of the week began on Sunday. Perhaps then it seemed that it was easier to teach this way, but in fact there is a historical explanation for this.
Days of the week in English
In English-speaking countries, as in almost all others, a seven-day week is adopted: Monday - Monday, Tuesday - Tuesday, Wednesday - Wednesday, Thursday - Thursday, Friday - Friday, Saturday - Saturday, Sunday - Sunday.
There are several ways in which they are easier to remember. For example, assign numbers to days in both Russian and English. Let's designate Monday as mono - the first, single, Tuesday - two - two or second, Friday - five - the fifth, Saturday - six - the sixth, Sunday - seven - the seventh. However, for Wednesday and Thursday, it is impossible to choose numbers that will be consonant with these days for weeks. And remember that the week in some English speaking countries starts on Sunday, thus confusion arises because Monday is not the first day of the week. You can also use analogous words, but since everyone has their own associations, there are no universal methods.
And you can remember where the names of the days of the week in English came from. At the moment, the official version is the origin from the names of the planets. Previously, time was measured using the position of celestial bodies, and one of the units of time was the lunar month, which is about 29 days and includes four phases of about 7 days each. At that time, seven planets were known, which received names from the revered gods. In English culture, under the influence of the Romans, the following names were formed: Monday - Moon - "moon", Tuesday - Tiu - "Tiu", Wednesday - Woden - "One", Thursday - Thor - "Thor", Friday - Freya - "Freya", Saturday - Saturn - Saturn, Sunday - Sun - Sun.
Why does the week start with resurrection?
In fact, this is not only the case in England. In addition to the British, Americans, Canadians and residents of some other countries start the week with Sunday.
It all started with religion and Jewish traditions. According to the Bible, it took God six days to create the world. On the seventh day, the Creator rested. As Christianity developed, the first day of the week also became a day of rest. In 321, the Roman emperor Constantine ordered Sunday to be the first day of the week and of worship.
Later, the traditions were divided. Many European countries did not divide the weekend and began to consider Monday as the beginning of the week. North America has left the old reckoning.
Interestingly, there is no clear cut decision in the UK at the moment. There is an old tradition according to which Sunday is placed at the beginning of the week in calendars, but in everyday life it is Monday that is considered the first day of the week, and Saturday and Sunday are weekend, that is, the end of the week.
