Months
The names of the months (dikgwedi) indicate special natural and agricultural events which traditionally happened during the period. Being cattle breeders who lived in the semi-arid regions of Southern Africa, a deep understanding of agriculture and the natural world was essential for the survival of the Basotho people.
The year begins roughly in the month of August, when the seeds are planted in anticipation of the next month's explosion of life.
- Phato (August) — from the verb -fata (dig) as the barren fields are ploughed and prepared in anticipation of the next months explosion of life.
- Lwetse (September) — lots of grass grows and the cows grow fat on it. They produce so much milk that the expression lebese le wetse (the milk has spilled over) is used.
- Mphalane (October) — many impala deliver their young in this month, and the name is a diminutive of phala (impala); that is, it means "small impala."
- Pudungwana (November) — many wildebeest deliver their young in this month, and the name is a diminutive of pudumo (wildebeest).
- Tshitwe (December) — large numbers of a species of small grasshopper (tshitwe) are found at this time.
- Pherekgong (January) — the crops begin to grow large and bird-scarers set up camp in their fields. They erect small structures and fera ka kgong (set up the rafters using old pieces of dried wood)
- Hlakola (February) — the sorghum plants release a white substance and the ears of corn come out. This name sounds like the Sesotho verb -hlakola (wipe off).
- Hlakubele (March) — the sorghum grains are visible and birds start eating them. The name is a compound noun from tlhaku tsa mabele (grains of sorghum)
- Mmesa (April) — there are large numbers of a certain species of grasshopper known as mohlwane. Herd boys make fires at night and eat roasted maize with mohlwane. This gave rise to the proverb Mmesa mohlwane ha a panye (one needs to be diligent when doing a job, lit. the mohlwane roaster does not blink); the name comes from the first word in this proverb mmesa (the roaster).
- Motsheanong (May) — the sorghum grains have become hard — too hard for the birds to eat them. It is said that the plants are laughing at the birds, and the name is a contraction of motsheha dinong (the one who laughs at the birds).
- Phupjane (June) — this is the beginning of Winter, and all plants seem to die and many wild animals leave on migrations. It is said that Nature is holding back on life. The name means "a small holding back" and is a diminutive of the name of the following month.
- Phupu (July) — everything seems completely dead and lifeless. Nature is holding back completely.
Read more about this topic: Sotho Calendar
Famous quotes containing the word months:
“And do not pity C. Q. One had to choose between him and H. H., and one wanted H. H. to exist at least a couple of months longer, so as to have him make you live in the minds of later generations. I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“I’m 65 and I guess that puts me in with the geriatrics. But if there were fifteen months in every year, I’d only be 48. That’s the trouble with us. We number everything. Take women, for example. I think they deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of 28 and 40.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“When I think of him, and his six sons, and his son-in-law, not to enumerate the others, enlisted for this fight, proceeding coolly, reverently, humanely to work, for months if not years, sleeping and waking upon it, summering and wintering the thought, without expecting any reward but a good conscience, while almost all America stood ranked on the other side,—I say again that it affects me as a sublime spectacle.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)