How to Determine Name of the Day in the Week

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:34:02 -0700, Mensanator wrote:

> And technically, weeks begin on Sunday, not Monday, but business likes
> to think of Monday as day 0 of the week and it doesn't conflict with any
> prior date format.

There's no "technically" about it. It's an arbitrary starting point, and 
consequently there are different traditions to it, even in English.

Besides, I don't think many businesses think of "day 0" at all. Most 
people outside of IT start counting from 1, not 0.

In British Commonwealth countries, Sunday is the last day of the week, 
not the first, although under American influence that's changing in 
Australia at least.

In Poland, the week begins with Monday ("poniedziałek"). Tuesday, 
"wtorek", means "second day". Other Slavic countries also start with 
Monday.

Similarly, the Lithuanian calendar simple enumerates the days of the 
week, starting with Monday, "pirmadienis" ("first day").

In China, there are at least three different systems of naming the week 
days. In two of them, the week starts with Sunday, but in the third 
system, Sunday is "zhoumo" ("cycle's end") and Monday is zhouyi ("first 
of cycle").



-- 
Steven