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HOW TO REFER TO THE MILKY WAY ACROSS THE GLOBE
The Atlantic
Aug 8 2013
The route of scattered straw. Silver river. Calm.
Robinson Meyer
Aug 8 2013, 2:26 PM ET
Silver, sweeping, seemingly translucent, the Milky Way is one of the
few celestial bodies that can be seen nearly everywhere on the globe.
It's one of the very few, moreover, that doesn't determine the
parameters of daily life, as the sun or moon do.
Unlike Sol or Luna, too, we don't see it in news footage or receive
updates on its condition. Its ubiquity is simple fact. So it becomes
a canvas for language, as words and metaphor are carted around the
watching planet. A few images dominate, though my favorite is the
rarest, and the last.
Here's how to refer to our home galaxy across the planet:
--
Armenian hard goghi chanaparh, or "The man who has stolen the straw."
According to the Armenian astronomer Hayk Harutyunyan, the name
comes from legend about the god of fire, Vahagn. "Vahagn," writes
Harutyunyan, "contrived to steel some straw from Assyrian king Barsham
once in a very cold winter and brought it to Armenia."(Vahagn's name
itself seems to be of Indo-European origin, as it's similar to the
Sanskrit words for god and fire.)
Arabic Darb Al-TabbÄ~Ana, or "Hay Merchants Way."
Chechen Ca Taxina Taca, or "the route of Scattered straw." Notice
how many languages name the galaxy after hay. Harutyunyan writes:
The most striking in relation with [the Armenian name] is that while
many nations use their own terms for Milky Way, in a huge area --
from the Gobi desert to the Atlantic coasts of Africa and from the
North Caucasus and Danube to Ethiopia -- this dim celestial path's
proper name is associated with a straw. This fact was used by some
researchers to assert that such a name could be originated in Arabian
language for they were nomads their all life depending on horses and
consequently on the straw.
But the Armenian name is so old that it well predates any contact
with Arabic civilization. It's possible, then, that the Armenian name
traveled, after Arabian contact, to a huge swath of the world.
Chinese e~J~@æ²³, or "Silver River." This name appears across east
Asian languages:
Vietnamese Ngân Ha, "Silver River."
Korean ì~]~@í~U~X, eunha, or "Silver River." Uri Eunha refers directly
to the Milky Way itself.
Faroese, Norwegian, and Icelandic Vetrarbreytin, Vinterbrauta, and
Vetrarbrautin, respectively; or "Winter Way." The speakers of these
three Polar languages can best see the galaxy during the winter,
when their night extends far into the mid-day hours, so the body
takes the season's name.
Greek Galaxias Kyklos, or "Milky Circle." A number of different
Greek myths explain the origin of this name, some involving the
suckling of Zeus's son, Heracles; others telling an earlier tale,
between the Greek titans Rhea and Cronus. In both myths, the galaxy
is divine mother's milk. Galaxias, which descends from the Greek gala,
for milk, becomes our galaxy.
Latin Via Lactea, or "Milky Way," a translation of the Greek. This
nickname travels through Latin, through the Romance language and
beyond. Some version of "Milky Way" is used in Basque, Bosnian, Czech,
Dutch, French, Polish, Portugeuse, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak,
Spanish, Welsh, and, of course, English.
Estonian Linnutee, or "Way of the Birds." A Baltic folktale told that
birds, on their southern migration, followed the path of the galaxy
across the sky. And so they do, according to an Odense University
study from the past decade.
Sanskrit Mandakini, "Calm" or "unhurried." This may be my favorite.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/how-to-refer-to-the-milky-way-across-the-globe/278506/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
The Atlantic
Aug 8 2013
The route of scattered straw. Silver river. Calm.
Robinson Meyer
Aug 8 2013, 2:26 PM ET
Silver, sweeping, seemingly translucent, the Milky Way is one of the
few celestial bodies that can be seen nearly everywhere on the globe.
It's one of the very few, moreover, that doesn't determine the
parameters of daily life, as the sun or moon do.
Unlike Sol or Luna, too, we don't see it in news footage or receive
updates on its condition. Its ubiquity is simple fact. So it becomes
a canvas for language, as words and metaphor are carted around the
watching planet. A few images dominate, though my favorite is the
rarest, and the last.
Here's how to refer to our home galaxy across the planet:
--
Armenian hard goghi chanaparh, or "The man who has stolen the straw."
According to the Armenian astronomer Hayk Harutyunyan, the name
comes from legend about the god of fire, Vahagn. "Vahagn," writes
Harutyunyan, "contrived to steel some straw from Assyrian king Barsham
once in a very cold winter and brought it to Armenia."(Vahagn's name
itself seems to be of Indo-European origin, as it's similar to the
Sanskrit words for god and fire.)
Arabic Darb Al-TabbÄ~Ana, or "Hay Merchants Way."
Chechen Ca Taxina Taca, or "the route of Scattered straw." Notice
how many languages name the galaxy after hay. Harutyunyan writes:
The most striking in relation with [the Armenian name] is that while
many nations use their own terms for Milky Way, in a huge area --
from the Gobi desert to the Atlantic coasts of Africa and from the
North Caucasus and Danube to Ethiopia -- this dim celestial path's
proper name is associated with a straw. This fact was used by some
researchers to assert that such a name could be originated in Arabian
language for they were nomads their all life depending on horses and
consequently on the straw.
But the Armenian name is so old that it well predates any contact
with Arabic civilization. It's possible, then, that the Armenian name
traveled, after Arabian contact, to a huge swath of the world.
Chinese e~J~@æ²³, or "Silver River." This name appears across east
Asian languages:
Vietnamese Ngân Ha, "Silver River."
Korean ì~]~@í~U~X, eunha, or "Silver River." Uri Eunha refers directly
to the Milky Way itself.
Faroese, Norwegian, and Icelandic Vetrarbreytin, Vinterbrauta, and
Vetrarbrautin, respectively; or "Winter Way." The speakers of these
three Polar languages can best see the galaxy during the winter,
when their night extends far into the mid-day hours, so the body
takes the season's name.
Greek Galaxias Kyklos, or "Milky Circle." A number of different
Greek myths explain the origin of this name, some involving the
suckling of Zeus's son, Heracles; others telling an earlier tale,
between the Greek titans Rhea and Cronus. In both myths, the galaxy
is divine mother's milk. Galaxias, which descends from the Greek gala,
for milk, becomes our galaxy.
Latin Via Lactea, or "Milky Way," a translation of the Greek. This
nickname travels through Latin, through the Romance language and
beyond. Some version of "Milky Way" is used in Basque, Bosnian, Czech,
Dutch, French, Polish, Portugeuse, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak,
Spanish, Welsh, and, of course, English.
Estonian Linnutee, or "Way of the Birds." A Baltic folktale told that
birds, on their southern migration, followed the path of the galaxy
across the sky. And so they do, according to an Odense University
study from the past decade.
Sanskrit Mandakini, "Calm" or "unhurried." This may be my favorite.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/how-to-refer-to-the-milky-way-across-the-globe/278506/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress