Appendix 5:
Planetary Linguistics
Names of the Planets
English
is generally recognized as the international language for professional astronomy.
However, the various languages often also have their own words which are used in
everyday speech.
English Sun Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
Latin Sol Mercurius Venus Terra Luna Mars Jupiter Saturnus Uranus Neptunus Pluto
French Soleil Mercure Vénus Terre Lune Mars Jupiter Saturne Uranus Neptune Pluton
Italian Sole Mercurio Venere Terra Luna Marte Giove Saturno Urano Nettuno Plutone
Spanish Sol Mercurio Venus Tierra Luna Marte Júpiter Saturno Urano Neptuno Plutón
Galacian Sol Mercurio Venus Terra Lúa Marte Xúpiter Saturno Urano Neptuno Plutón
Catalan Sol Mercuri Venus Terra Lluna Mart Júpiter Saturn Urà Neptú Plutó
Romanian Soare Mercur Venus Pamint Luna Marte Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptun Pluto
Portuguese Sol Mercúrio Vênus Terra Lua Marte Júpiter Saturno Urano Neptuno Plutão
Esperanto Suno Merkuro Venuso Tero Luno Marso Jupitero Saturno Urano Neptuno Plutono
German Sonne Merkur Venus Erde Mond Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptun Pluto
Dutch Zon Mercurius Venus Aarde Maan Mars Jupiter Saturnus Uranus Neptunus Pluto
Swedish Solen Merkurius Venus Jorden Månen Mars Jupiter Saturnus Uranus Neptunus Pluto
Norwegian Sola Merkur Venus Jorda Månen Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptun Pluto
Danish Solen Merkur Venus Jorden Månen Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptun Pluto
Icelandic Sól Merkúr Venus Jörd Tungl Mars Júpíter Satúrnus Úranus Neptúnus Plútó
Finnish Aurinko Merkurius Venus Maa Kuu Mars Jupiter Saturnus Uranus Neptunus Pluto
Estonian Päike Merkuur Veenus Maa Kuu Marss Jupiter Saturn Uraan Neptuun Pluuto
Latvian Saule Merkurs Vene'ra Zeme Me'ness Marss Jupiters Saturns Ura'ns Neptu'ns Pluto
Hungarian Nap Merkùr Vénusz Föld Hold Mars Jupiter Szaturnusz Uránusz Neptunusz Plútó
Czech Slunce Merkur Venuse Zeme Mesíc Mars Jupiter Saturn Uran Neptun Pluto
old Czech Slunce Dobropan Krasopani Zeme Mesic Smrtonos Kralomoc Hladolet Nebestanka Vodopan Pluto
Slovenian Sonce Merkur Venera Zemlja Mesec Mars Jupiter Saturn Uran Neptun Pluton
Croatian Sunce Merkur Venera Zemlja Mjesec Mars Jupiter Saturn Uran Neptun Pluton
Polish Slonce Merkury Wenus Ziemia Ksiezyc Mars Jowisz Saturn Uran Neptun Pluton
Georgian Mze Merkuri Venera Dedamizha Mthware Marsi Iupiteri Saturni Urani Neptuni Plutoni
Russian Solnce Merkurij Venera Zemlja Luna Mars Yupiter Saturn Uran Neptun Pluton
Greek Helios Hermes Aphrodite Gaea Selene Ares Zeus Kronos Uranos Poseidon Pluton
Sanskrit Surya Budha Sukra Dhara Chandra Mangala Brhaspati Sani
Irish Grian Mearcair Véineas An Domhan Gealach Mars Iúpatar Satarn Uránas Neiptiún Plútón
Welsh Haul Mercher Fenws Ddaear Lleuad Mawrth Iau Sadwrn Iwranws Neifion Pliwto
Turkish Günes Merkür Venüs Dünya Ay Mars Jüpiter Satürn Uranüs Neptün Plüton
Uzbek Quyosh Utorid Zuhra Yer Oy Mirrikh Mushtarij Zuhal
Farsi Khorshid Tir Naheed Zamin Mah Bahram Berjis Kayvon Oranos Nepton Pluton
Arabic Shams Otaared Zuhra Ard Quamar Merrikh Mushtarie Zuhal Uraanus Niptuun Plutoon
Hebrew Shemesh Kochav Chama Nogah Eretz Yareach Ma'adim Tzedek Shabtay Uranus Neptune Pluto
Cantonese Taiyeung Suising Gumsing Deiqao Yueqao Fuosing Moqsing Tousing Tinwongsing Huoiwongsing Mengwongsing
Mandarin Taiyang Shuixing Jinxing Diqiu Yueqiu Huoxing Muxing Tuxing Tianwangxing Haiwangxing Mingwangxing
Korean Taeyang Soosung Kumsung Jeegoo Tal Hwasung Moksung Tosung Chunwangsung Haewangsung Myungwangsung
Japanese Taiyou Suisei Kinsei Chikyuu Tsuki Kasei Mokusei Dosei Tennousei Kaiousei Meiousei
Filipino Araw Merkuryo Venus Daigdig Buwan Marte Jupiter Saturno Uranus Neptuno Pluto
Indonesian Matahari Merkurius Venus Bumi Bulan Mars Yupiter Saturnus Uranus Neptunus Pluto
Sumerian Utu Udu-idim-gu-ud Nin-si-an-na Suen Si-mu-ud Mul-sag-me-gar Udu-idim-sag-us
Babylonian Samas Sihtu Delebat Sin Salbatanu Neberu Kayamanu
Tahitian Tane Ta'ero Ta'ura Vuravura Marama Maunu-'ura Ta'urua-nui Fetu-tea
Notes:
- For brevity's sake I've omitted the articles commonly used in some languages.
- The Mandarin words mean (approximately): "The Brightest; Star of Water; Star of Metal;
Sphere of Ground (Earth);
Star of Fire; Star of Wood; Star of Soil (Dirt); Star of the King of Heaven;
Star of the King of the Ocean; Star of the King of Hell".
The Korean, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese lines are pronounications.
- When they are written in Chinese characters the Korean words have almost the same
meanings as those listed in the row for Chinese.
- The Chinese characters at the top of the page are the names of the solar
system bodies in the same order as the table.
The second set of characters at the top of the page is Hindi.
To the right is Arabic script.
- The apostrophe character in the Latvian line is a diacritical mark for a long vowel, which is
a straight line over the letter.
- Much of this was taken from the
ASTROLANGUAGE mini dictionary of 300 astronomical
terms compiled by Veikko Makela. The remainder was compiled from responses
to a query on the Net.
Thanks to those who replied.
- See Peter Blinn's Planetary Gazetteer for more
- I would appreciate any additions or corrections to this table.
Adjectives
The English adjectives relating to the planets do not always derive simply from the
noun forms:
Noun Adjectival form
------ ---------------
Sun Solar
Mercury Mercurial
Venus Cytherean, Venerian
Earth Terrestrial, Telluric
Moon Lunar
Mars Martian, Arean
Jupiter Jovian
Saturn Saturnian
Uranus Uranian
Neptune Neptunian
Pluto Plutonian, Hadean
Days of the Week
The seven-day system we use is based on the ancient astrological
notion that the seven known celestial bodies
influence what happens on Earth and that each of these celestial bodies
controls the first hour of the day named after it. This system was
brought into Hellenistic Egypt from Mesopotamia, where astrology had
been practiced for millennia and where seven had always been a
propitious number. In A.D. 321 the Emperor Constantine the Great
grafted this astrological system onto the Roman calendar, made the
first day of this new week a day of rest and worship for all, and
imposed the following sequence and names to the days of the week.
This new Roman system was adopted with modifications throughout most
of western Europe: in the Germanic languages, such as Old English, the
names of four of the Roman gods were converted into those of the
corresponding Germanic gods:
Celestial Germanic modern modern
Body Latin god English Italian
------- -------- -------- --------- ----------
Sun Solis Sunday domenica
Moon Lunae Monday lunedì
Mars Martis Tiu Tuesday martedì
Mercury Mercurii Woden Wednesday mercoledì
Jupiter Jovis Thor Thursday giovedì
Venus Veneris Freya Friday venerdì
Saturn Saturni Saturday sabato
The Latin names for the weekdays survive in the modern Romance languages
(though the weekend day names have been altered). Also, Japanese words for the days of the week also correspond indirectly to the same planets.
Months
Two of the English month names are also have planetary connections:
January is named for Janus
and
March is named for Mars.
More origins from mythology:
... Appendices
... Origin
... Linguistics
... Names
... 
Bill Arnett; last updated:
2001 Feb 20