The original seven-season cycle which interacts dynamically with the mërèchi calendar was as follows:
pëhlètim (frost)
pëfòrnim (snow)
pëgànim (waking)
pëlúthim (flower)
p'élatim (leaf)
pëshírim (growing)
pëníltëm (singing)
and füshín (mild, a condition rather than a season). Except for füshín, which has no beginning or end but is applied to any day that qualifies, each season begins when its namesake is first observed and ends when the next season begins. Some of them, however, are too short, and others make no sense (why flower and then leaf? Flower and leaf of what, exactly?)
So here is a set of seven I am contemplating replacing them with, to better spread out the seasons across my Zone 6 year:
frost
snow
crocuses
green (when most of the trees begin to look green from a distance)
fireflies
cicadas
gold (when the leaves turn)
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I think that's a really lovely set of seasons, in your replacement set. And the older ones too, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about seasons for some time. ea-luna had basically two seasons, "Summer", starting in May and including Autumn, and "Winter", starting in November and including Spring. This was sort of an artificial convention that was added to the language while we were in Michigan, where it didn't necessarily fit all that well, but when we returned to Delaware, I noticed that it coincidentally did line up nicely with the start of really *cold* weather on the winter side and the start of really *hot* weather on the summer side. But that was purely coincidence.
Now that we're living in Johnstown, PA. and I am working on Nevashi, I may have to reconsider my seasons. The climate here seems somewhat different from Delaware. For one thing, it snows a lot more here. ;)
I'm developing some notion of the language reflecting "life on the ground" in a particular locality. I think sometimes I have a tendency for my conlangs to get too systematic and to not reflect the real world well enough... if that makes any sense.