Decem rain

Language is for me like a handful of stones. Ordinary. Always at hand use. There's little treasures when we take a closer look. 

A few weeks ago I learned my two daughters could count in Spanish to 20. Next to that we rehearsed counting to twelve in English, German, French and Italian.

I showed them something special. A little treasure hidden in the way Dutch name their months. 'September', 'October', 'November' and 'December' are derived from the Latin words for 7, 8, 9 and 10. Someone has added 2.

The 9th month 'September' - of the Julian Calender - is derived from the Latin word 'Septem' = '7'.  Julius Ceasar (100-44 BC) ) added 2 in 45 BC. Why? Because his Calender starts with 'January' and not with 'March'.

Another treasure when we take a closer look at the months. Julius Caesar named the 7th month after him. So did Caesar Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD) with the 8th month. For the rest the names of the months are unchanged for more than 2,500 years.

It's raining on my part of planet Earth. December rain. Decem :) rain.

Did you find treasures lately?