SEMANTIC ENIGMAS



Why doesn't the earth's moon have a name? BUT it has: its name is "Moon". Every natural satellite is identified with a mythical figure. Jupiter's 16 moons, for example, bear the names of women (and a man: Ganymede) with most of whom this remarkable god was supposed to have had love affairs. Earth's moon, the longest known of all, was given the name "Selene" by the Greeks and "Luna" by the Romans, each a goddess. The ancient Germans called it "Man" or "Mani" and had a myth about a miserable person of this name who, together with his sister (the sun), is being pursued by a hound across the skies until the end of the world. From this myth derive the Germanic words "mane" (Danish), "maan" (Dutch), "moon" (English) and "mond" (German), later transferred to all celestial bodies circulating around planets. Claus Hollenberg, Marburg, Germany. With respect, some nomenclature needs clearing up. "Moon" is not the name of earth's satellite, as is signalled by the lack of a capital initial. "Moon" is a label, like "person". The formal term for a person is "human being" (for "moon", read "satellite"). Would you like to be introduced to someone as "a person"? Or, indeed, as "a human being"?No, the moon has a name. Several in fact. Arabic calls the moon "Merenda" (hence the girl's name "Miranda"). Malay calls it "Bulan". The moon's name - in the West's ancient and venerable planetary naming system - is "Selene". It's incorrect to talk of the moon's "Geology" - it's "Selenology" (this is no whimsy - NASA employs several Selenographers, and their Areologists are busy examining the surface of Mars). A similar error would be to ask why the earth doesn't have a name, when every other planet is named after a God/dess. Earth's name is Gaia, which has recently been revived (thanks, largely, to Lovelock's "Gaia Hypothesis"). Garrick Alder, London Although Selene is a far prettier name than Moon,(I mean, would you call your kid Moon?)the latter's capital initial letter implies that yes, it is indeed its name and not a generic description. Given, that we did not know of any other satellite's existence, nor even a possibility of one, until the 17th century would support this thesis. This linguistic quirk is no different from calling all vacuum cleaners 'hoovers'! Vera Clarke, Epsom Oh dear, I already said this but moon, or rather Moon, does have a capital letter. Hence it is its name. Selene is just the Greek for it. Or version thereof. And it makes sense, for it was quite unique at the time the name was bestowed upoon it, unlike 'Hoover', of which there were many makes... Vera Clarke, Epsom In 1981 I named Earth's satellite "Diane" in honor of a much adored girlfriend. She thought it marvelously romantic and though she is now gone, I continue to look at that big glowing rock and call it Diane. So there! Jay Ensley, Anaheim, California, USA Why do we assume the Moon is Female? Did I miss something? If so, please inform me. Thanks Patricia Talley, Sylva, NC US It seems the name Luna is the one most associated with our Moon, hence a lunar eclipse and not a "Moon" eclipse and what about the lunar surface. The name given to our "Sun" was Sol, hence the solar eclipse and Solar System... Thank goodness we live on Earth (which means soil or dirt if not capitalized) and not "Planet"! And as to why the moon is female, it's because it has a monthly "cycle" too LOL Sue, Michigan USA



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