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This is a natural idea from the point of view of the worker, who conceives of the rest-day as following his working-days. But it is entirely opposed to ecclesiastical and biblical usage. It is thus in marked contrast with the strong religious feeling expressed in the ordinary Russian name of 'Resurrection-day' for Sunday.
Hungarian or Magyar is not a Slavonic nor indeed an Indo-European language; but the names of the last four days have every appearance of an identical origin with those of their Slavonic neighbours. The name for Monday may perhaps mean 'beginning of the week.' But I have not met with any expert in the language who could assure me of this or interpret the other two names.
In Group 5 the meaning of the names is obvious to any one who has the slightest knowledge of Greek. But for the benefit of those who have not, I may add that they are Lord's-day, second, third, fourth, fifth, Preparation and Sabbath. The name for Friday is of course the biblical name, which is regularly used by the Greek Fathers. The reader will note the point already mentioned on p. 26 that the Eastern Church succeeded generally if not entirely in suppressing the planetary names.
Albanian (Group 6) is an Indo-European language, but of a family distinct from either Italian or Greek. Here I have had the advantage of consulting one who has made a considerable study of the language, Dr B. Atkinson, as well as of a discussion by Dr A. Thumb in the article mentioned on p. 45. The names so far as we can interpret them are purely planetary. Those for Sunday and Monday are the vernacular words for 'sun' and 'moon,' which shews that the names were not mere borrowings, but had a meaning for the Albanians. Tuesday and Wednesday speak for themselves, and the equivalence of 'Ṡhtunε' and 'Saturn' though not free from philological difficulty seems probable. The other two are mysterious. 'Enjεtε,' it has been suggested, may come from the name of a local deity sometimes identified with Zeus. 'Prεmtε' is supposed by some scholars to be akin to the Albanian word for 'evening.' If this is accepted, two