February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars . The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years , with the 29th day being called the leap day . February is the third and last month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere . In the Southern Hemisphere , February is the third and last month of meteorological summer (being the seasonal equivalent of what is August in the Northern Hemisphere).
70-414: "February" is pronounced in several different ways. The beginning of the word is commonly pronounced either as / ˈ f ɛ b j u -/ FEB -yoo- or / ˈ f ɛ b r u -/ FEB -roo- ; many people drop the first "r", replacing it with / j / , as if it were spelled "Febuary". This comes about by analogy with "January" ( / ˈ dʒ æ n . j u -/ ), as well as by
140-551: A dissimilation effect whereby having two "r"s close to each other causes one to change. The ending of the word is pronounced /- ɛr i / -err-ee in the US and /- ər i / -ər-ee in the UK. The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum , which means "purification", via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in
210-461: A , an , the ) or German ( der, die, das, ein, eine ). A whole verb or a noun is described without articles and the grammatical gender is found from the word's termination. It is enough to say barka ('a' or 'the barge'), Noetova barka ('Noah's ark'). The gender is known in this case to be feminine. In declensions , endings are normally changed; see below. If one should like to somehow distinguish between definiteness or indefiniteness of
280-400: A Monday, it occurs as part of a common year starting on Friday , in which February 1st is a Monday and the 28th is a Sunday; the most recent occurrence was 2021 , and the next one will be 2027 . In countries that start their week on a Sunday, it occurs in a common year starting on Thursday ; the most recent occurrence was 2015 and the next occurrence will be 2026 . The pattern is broken by
350-409: A change in pronunciation relative to a segment that is adjacent to the affected segment or at a distance, and may involve a change relative to a preceding or a following segment. As with assimilation, anticipatory dissimilation is much more common than lag dissimilation, but unlike assimilation, most dissimilation is triggered by non-contiguous segments. Also, while many kinds of assimilation have
420-552: A grammatical paradigm start to conflate in a way that is not easily remedied through re-wording , the forms may dissimilate. For example, in modern Korean the vowels /e/ and /ɛ/ are merging for many people in the capital Seoul, and concurrently the second-person pronoun 네 /ne/ ' your ' is shifting to 니 /ni/ to avoid confusion with the first-person pronoun 내 /nɛ/ ' my ' . Similarly, it appears that English she , historically heo , may have acquired its modern sh form through dissimilation from he , though it
490-532: A mere 2.8%. During World War II , Slovenia was divided among the Axis Powers of Fascist Italy , Nazi Germany , and Hungary . Each of the occupying powers tried to either discourage or entirely suppress Slovene. Following World War II, Slovenia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Slovene was one of the official languages of the federation. In the territory of Slovenia, it
560-463: A noun, one would say (prav/natanko/ravno) tista barka ('that/precise/exact barge') for 'the barge' and neka/ena barka ('some/a barge') for 'a barge'. Definiteness of a noun phrase can also be discernible through the ending of the accompanying adjective. One should say rdeči šotor ('[exactly that] red tent') or rdeč šotor ('[a] red tent'). This difference is observable only for masculine nouns in nominative or accusative case. Because of
630-620: A prominent Slovene linguist, commented that, although Slovene is not an endangered language, its scope has been shrinking, especially in science and higher education. The language is spoken by about 2.5 million people, mainly in Slovenia, but also by Slovene national minorities in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , Italy (around 90,000 in Venetian Slovenia , Resia Valley , Canale Valley , Province of Trieste and in those municipalities of
700-584: A proposal was put forward in Kmetijske in rokodelske novice by the Slovene Society of Ljubljana to call this month talnik (related to ice melting), but it did not stick. The idea was proposed by a priest, Blaž Potočnik. Another name of February in Slovene was vesnar , after the mythological character Vesna . Having only 28 days in common years, February is the only month of the year that can pass without
770-601: A record of a proto-Slovene that was spoken in a more scattered territory than modern Slovene, which included most of the present-day Austrian states of Carinthia and Styria , as well as East Tyrol , the Val Pusteria in South Tyrol , and some areas of Upper and Lower Austria . By the 15th century, most of the northern areas were gradually Germanized : the northern border of the Slovene-speaking territory stabilized on
SECTION 10
#1732830250316840-532: A relatively old case of phonetic dissimilation has been artificially undone in the spelling is English colonel , whose standard pronunciation is [ˈkɝnəl] (with the r sound) in North-American English, or [ˈkɜːnəl] in RP . It was formerly spelt coronel and is a borrowing from French co r onne l , which arose as a result of dissimilation from Italian co l onne ll o . There are several hypotheses on
910-748: A relic from the now modern Russian yery character ⟨ы⟩ , which is itself usually transliterated as ⟨y⟩ ; /j/ as ⟨y⟩ ; /l/ as ⟨ll⟩ ; /ʋ/ as ⟨w⟩ ; /ʒ/ as ⟨ʃ⟩ , ⟨ʃʃ⟩ or ⟨ʃz⟩ . The standard Slovene orthography, used in almost all situations, uses only the letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet plus ⟨č⟩ , ⟨š⟩ , and ⟨ž⟩ . The letters ⟨q⟩ , ⟨w⟩ , ⟨x⟩ , and ⟨y⟩ are not included: /uʷ/ The orthography thus underdifferentiates several phonemic distinctions: In
980-533: A single full moon . Using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis for determining the date and time of a full moon, this last happened in 2018 and will next happen in 2037. The same is true regarding a new moon : again using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis, this last happened in 2014 and will next happen in 2033. February is also the only month of the calendar that, at intervals alternating between one of six years and two of eleven years, has exactly four full 7-day weeks . In countries that start their week on
1050-546: A single effect, breathy voiced vowels, and attribute it to one rather than both of the consonants, as they assume the breathiness on the other syllable to be a long-distance coarticulatory effect, thus replicating the historical change in the Greek word. If Ohala is correct, one might expect to find dissimilation in other languages with other sounds that frequently cause long-distance effects, such as nasalization and pharyngealization . Dissimilation, like assimilation , may involve
1120-444: A singular participle combined with a plural auxiliary verb (known as polvikanje ) signals a somewhat more friendly and less formal attitude while maintaining politeness: The use of nonstandard forms ( polvikanje ) might be frowned upon by many people and would not likely be used in a formal setting. The use of the 3rd person plural oni ('they') form (known as onikanje in both direct address and indirect reference; this
1190-741: A skipped leap year, but no leap year has been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100. February meteor showers include the Alpha Centaurids (appearing in early February), the March Virginids (lasting from February 14 to April 25, peaking around March 20), the Delta Cancrids (appearing December 14 to February 14, peaking on January 17), the Omicron Centaurids (late January through February, peaking in mid-February), Theta Centaurids (January 23 – March 12, only visible in
1260-491: A syllable is unstressed and /r/ may drop out altogether, as in "deteriate" for deteriorate and "tempature" for temperature, a process called haplology . When the /r/ is found in /bru/ , it may change to /j/ . ( e.g. , Febyuary → February, which has been explained by phonotactic factors or alternatively by morphological analogy with more common sequences such as January . Cf. nucular , which may have arisen through an analogous process) An example where
1330-563: A violent policy of Fascist Italianization ; the same policy was applied to Slovene speakers in Venetian Slovenia , Gorizia and Trieste . Between 1923 and 1943, all public use of Slovene in these territories was strictly prohibited, and Slovene-language activists were persecuted by the state. After the Carinthian Plebiscite of 1920, a less severe policy of Germanization took place in the Slovene-speaking areas of southern Carinthia which remained under Austrian administration. After
1400-450: A vowel. Before a consonant or word-finally, they are reduced to /l/ , /n/ and /r/ respectively. This is reflected in the spelling in the case of /rj/ , but not for /lj/ and /nj/ . Under certain (somewhat unpredictable) circumstances, /l/ at the end of a syllable may become [w] , merging with the allophone of /ʋ/ in that position. Slovene has an eight-vowel (or, according to Peter Jurgec, nine-vowel) system, in comparison to
1470-710: Is a South Slavic language of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family . Most of its 2.5 million speakers are the inhabitants of Slovenia , majority of them ethnic Slovenes . As Slovenia is part of the European Union , Slovene is also one of its 24 official and working languages . Its syntax is highly fusional , and it has a dual grammatical number , an archaic feature shared with some other Indo-European languages . Two accentual norms (one characterized by pitch accent ) are used. Its flexible word order
SECTION 20
#17328302503161540-409: Is a distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. This is only relevant for masculine nouns and only in the singular, at odds with some other Slavic languages, e.g. Russian, for which it is also relevant in the plural for all genders. Animate nouns have an accusative singular form that is identical to the genitive, while for inanimate nouns the accusative singular is the same as the nominative. Animacy
1610-418: Is a phenomenon whereby similar consonants or vowels in a word become less similar or elided. In English , dissimilation is particularly common with liquid consonants such as /r/ and /l/ when they occur in a sequence. The phenomenon is often credited to horror aequi , the principle that language users avoid repetition of identical linguistic structures. When an /r/ sound occurs before another in
1680-667: Is based mostly on semantics and is less rigid than gender. Generally speaking a noun is animate if it refers to something that is generally thought to have free will or the ability to move of its own accord. This includes all nouns for people and animals. All other nouns are inanimate, including plants and other non-moving life forms, and also groups of people or animals. However, there are some nouns for inanimate objects that are generally animate, which mostly include inanimate objects that are named after people or animals. This includes: There are no definite or indefinite articles as in English (
1750-502: Is called únor , meaning month of submerging (of river ice). In Slovene , February is traditionally called svečan , related to icicles or Candlemas . This name originates from sičan , written as svičan in the New Carniolan Almanac from 1775 and changed to its final form by Franc Metelko in his New Almanac from 1824. The name was also spelled sečan , meaning "the month of cutting down of trees". In 1848,
1820-478: Is not clear whether the mechanism was idiosyncratic sound change ( palatalization ) of heo , or substitution of heo with the feminine demonstrative pronoun seo . Slovene language Slovene ( / ˈ s l oʊ v iː n / SLOH -veen or / s l oʊ ˈ v iː n , s l ə -/ sloh- VEEN , slə- ) or Slovenian ( / s l oʊ ˈ v iː n i ə n , s l ə -/ sloh- VEE -nee-ən, slə- ; slovenščina )
1890-580: Is often adjusted for emphasis or stylistic reasons, although basically it is an SVO language. It has a T–V distinction : the use of the V-form demonstrates a respectful attitude towards superiors and the elderly, while it can be sidestepped through the passive form. Standard Slovene is the national standard language that was formed in the 18th and 19th century, based on Upper and Lower Carniolan dialect groups , more specifically on language of Ljubljana and its adjacent areas. The Lower Carniolan dialect group
1960-563: Is proved by the survival of certain ritual formulas in Slovene (such as the ritual installation of the Dukes of Carinthia). The words Buge waz primi, gralva Venus! ('God be With You, Queen Venus!'), with which Bernhard von Spanheim greeted the poet Ulrich von Liechtenstein , who was travelling around Europe in guise of Venus, upon his arrival in Carinthia in 1227 (or 1238), is another example of some level of Slovene knowledge among high nobility in
2030-505: Is similar to using Sie in German) as an ultra-polite form is now archaic or dialectal. It is associated with servant-master relationships in older literature, the child-parent relationship in certain conservative rural communities, and parishioner-priest relationships. Foreign words used in Slovene are of various types depending on the assimilation they have undergone. The types are: The loanwords are mostly from German and Italian , while
2100-787: Is the amethyst , which symbolizes piety, humility, spiritual wisdom, and sincerity. This list does not necessarily imply either official status nor general observance. (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.) First Saturday First Sunday First Week of February (first Monday, ending on Sunday) First Monday First Friday Second Saturday Second Sunday Second Monday Second Tuesday Week of February 22 Third Monday Third Thursday Third Friday Last Friday Last Saturday Last day of February Dissimilation In phonology , particularly within historical linguistics , dissimilation
2170-519: The Anschluss of 1938, the use of Slovene was strictly forbidden in Carinthia, as well. This accelerated a process of language shift in Carinthia, which continued throughout the second half of the 20th century: according to the Austro-Hungarian census of 1910, around 21% of inhabitants of Carinthia spoke Slovene in their daily communication; by 1951, this figure dropped to less than 10%, and by 2001 to
February - Misplaced Pages Continue
2240-530: The Protestant Reformation . The most prominent authors from this period are Primož Trubar , who wrote the first books in Slovene; Adam Bohorič , the author of the first Slovene grammar; and Jurij Dalmatin , who translated the entire Bible into Slovene. From the high Middle Ages up to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, in the territory of present-day Slovenia, German
2310-616: The Province of Gorizia bordering with Slovenia), in southern Carinthia , some parts of Styria in Austria (25,000) and in the western part of Croatian Istria bordering with Slovenia. It is also spoken in Rijeka and Zagreb (11,800-13,100), in southwestern Hungary (3-5,000), in Serbia (5,000), and by the Slovene diaspora throughout Europe and the rest of the world (around 300,000), particularly in
2380-800: The Slavic languages , together with Serbo-Croatian . It is close to the Chakavian and especially Kajkavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian, but genealogically more distant from the Shtokavian dialect , the basis for the Bosnian , Croatian , Montenegrin , and Serbian standard languages. Slovene in general, and Prekmurje Slovene in particular, shares the highest level of mutual intelligibility with transitional Kajkavian dialects of Hrvatsko Zagorje and Međimurje . Furthermore, Slovene shares certain linguistic characteristics with all South Slavic languages , including those of
2450-899: The Slovene Lands where compulsory schooling was in languages other than Standard Slovene, as was the case with the Carinthian Slovenes in Austria, and the Slovene minority in Italy . For example, the Resian and Torre (Ter) dialects in the Italian Province of Udine differ most from other Slovene dialects. Slovene is an Indo-European language belonging to the Western subgroup of the South Slavic branch of
2520-550: The United States (most notably Ohio , home to an estimated 3,400 speakers), Canada , Argentina , Australia and South Africa . Slovene is sometimes characterized as the most diverse Slavic language in terms of dialects , with different degrees of mutual intelligibility. Accounts of the number of dialects range from as few as seven dialects, often considered dialect groups or dialect bases that are further subdivided into as many as 50 dialects. Other sources characterize
2590-565: The 16th century, and ultimately led to the formation of more standard language. The Upper dialect was also used by most authors during the language revival in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was also the language spoken by France Prešeren , who, like most of Slovene writers and poets, lived and worked in Ljubljana, where speech was growing closer to the Upper Carniolan dialect group. Unstandardized dialects are more preserved in regions of
2660-466: The 1910s is frequently closer to modern Slovene than a text from the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1920 and 1941, the official language of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was defined as "Serbo-Croato-Slovene", which was in practice merely Serbo-Croatian. In Slovenia however, Slovene remained in use in education and administration. Many state institutions used only Serbo-Croatian, and a Slovene–Serbo-Croatian bilingualism
2730-404: The 2nd person singular ti form (known as tikanje ) is officially limited to friends and family, talk among children, and addressing animals, it is increasingly used among the middle generation to signal a relaxed attitude or lifestyle instead of its polite or formal counterpart using the 2nd person plural vi form (known as vikanje ). An additional nonstandard but widespread use of
2800-550: The Eastern subgroup, namely Bulgarian , Macedonian and Torlakian dialects. Mutual intelligibility with varieties of Serbo-Croatian is hindered by differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, Kajkavian being firmly the most mutually intelligible . Slovene has some commonalities with the West Slavic languages that are not found in other South Slavic languages. Like all Slavic languages , Slovene traces its roots to
2870-610: The Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order. The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years, but also contained a 29-day February. Historical names for February include the Old English terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage ) as well as Charlemagne 's designation Hornung. In Finnish,
February - Misplaced Pages Continue
2940-461: The areas around Trieste . During most of the Middle Ages, Slovene was a vernacular language of the peasantry, although it was also spoken in most of the towns on Slovenian territory, together with German or Italian. Although during this time, German emerged as the spoken language of the nobility, Slovene had some role in the courtly life of the Carinthian, Carniolan and Styrian nobility, as well. This
3010-435: The cause of dissimilation. According to John Ohala , listeners are confused by sounds with long-distance acoustic effects. In the case of English /r/ , rhoticization spreads across much of the word: in rapid speech, many of the vowels may sound as if they had an r . It may be difficult to tell whether a word has one source of rhoticity or two. When there are two, a listener might wrongly interpret one as an acoustic effect of
3080-420: The character of a sound law , few dissimilations do; most are in the nature of accidents that befall a particular lexical item. Anticipatory dissimilation at a distance (by far the most common): Anticipatory dissimilation from a contiguous segment (very rare): Lag dissimilation at a distance (fairly common): Lag dissimilation from a contiguous segment (very rare): When, through sound change , elements of
3150-542: The end of words unless immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel or a voiced consonant. In consonant clusters, voicing distinction is neutralized and all consonants assimilate the voicing of the rightmost segment, i.e. the final consonant in the cluster. In this context, [v] , [ɣ] and [d͡z] may occur as voiced allophones of /f/ , /x/ and /t͡s/ , respectively (e.g. vŕh drevésa [ʋrɣ dreˈʋesa] ). /ʋ/ has several allophones depending on context. The sequences /lj/ , /nj/ and /rj/ occur only before
3220-483: The excessive usage of regionalisms. Regionalisms are mostly limited to culinary and agricultural expressions, although there are many exceptions. Some loanwords have become so deeply rooted in the local language that people have considerable difficulties in finding a standard expression for the dialect term (for instance, kremšnita meaning a type of custard cake is kremna rezina in Standard Slovene, but
3290-505: The first novel in Slovene in 1866. This tendency was reversed in the Fin de siècle period by the first generation of modernist Slovene authors (most notably the writer Ivan Cankar ), who resorted to a more "pure" and simple language without excessive Serbo-Croatian borrowings. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the 1920s and 1930s, the influence of Serbo-Croatian increased again. This was opposed by
3360-415: The five-vowel system of Serbo-Croatian. Slovene nouns retain six of the seven Slavic noun cases: nominative , accusative , genitive , dative , locative and instrumental . There is no distinct vocative ; the nominative is used in that role. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns have three numbers: singular, dual and plural. Nouns in Slovene are either masculine, feminine or neuter gender. In addition, there
3430-433: The lack of article in Slovene and audibly insignificant difference between the masculine adjective forms, most dialects do not distinguish between definite and indefinite variants of the adjective, leading to hypercorrection when speakers try to use Standard Slovene. Slovene, like most other European languages, has a T–V distinction , or two forms of 'you' for formal and informal situations. Although informal address using
3500-549: The latter term is very rarely used in speech being considered inappropriate for non-literary registers ). Southwestern dialects incorporate many calques and loanwords from Italian, whereas eastern and northwestern dialects are replete with lexemes of German origin. Usage of such words hinders intelligibility between dialects and is greatly discouraged in formal situations. Slovene has a phoneme set consisting of 21 consonants and 8 vowels . Slovene has 21 distinctive consonant phonemes. All voiced obstruents are devoiced at
3570-476: The line going from north of Klagenfurt to south of Villach and east of Hermagor in Carinthia, while in Styria it was more or less identical with the current Austrian-Slovenian border. This linguistic border remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century, when a second process of Germanization took place, mostly in Carinthia. Between the 9th and 12th century, proto-Slovene spread into northern Istria and in
SECTION 50
#17328302503163640-410: The middle of a word in rhotic dialects of English, the first tends to drop out, as in "beserk" for berserk, "suprise" for surprise, "paticular" for particular , and "govenor" for governor – this does not affect the pronunciation of government, which has only one /r/ , but English government tends to be pronounced "goverment", dropping out the first n . In English, r -deletion occurs when
3710-462: The modern Gregorian calendar. Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar , Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, ..., December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during
3780-411: The month is called helmikuu , meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice. In Polish and Ukrainian , respectively, the month is called luty or лютий ( lyutiy ), meaning the month of ice or hard frost. In Macedonian the month is sečko ( сечко ), meaning month of cutting (wood). In Czech, it
3850-752: The more recently borrowed and less assimilated words are typically from English . This alphabet ( abeceda ) was derived in the mid-1840s from the system created by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj . Intended for the Serbo-Croatian language (in all its varieties), it was patterned on the Czech alphabet of the 1830s. Before that /s/ was, for example, written as ⟨ ʃ ⟩ , ⟨ʃʃ⟩ or ⟨ſ⟩ ; /tʃ/ as ⟨tʃch⟩ , ⟨cz⟩ , ⟨tʃcz⟩ or ⟨tcz⟩ ; /i/ sometimes as ⟨y⟩ as
3920-585: The number of dialects as nine or eight. The Slovene proverb "Every village has its own voice" ( Vsaka vas ima svoj glas ) depicts the differences in dialects. The Prekmurje dialect used to have a written norm of its own at one point. The Resian dialects have an independent written norm that is used by their regional state institutions. Speakers of those two dialects have considerable difficulties with being understood by speakers of other varieties of Slovene, needing code-switching to Standard Slovene. Other dialects are mutually intelligible when speakers avoid
3990-508: The old lunar Roman calendar . January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 713 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs ( c. 450 BC ), when it became the second month. At certain times February
4060-404: The other, and so mentally filter it out. This factoring out of coarticulatory effects has been experimentally replicated. For example, Greek pakhu- ( παχυ- ) ' thick ' derives from an earlier * phakhu- . When test subjects are asked to say the * phakhu- form in casual speech, the aspiration from both consonants pervades both syllables, making the vowels breathy . Listeners hear
4130-466: The post-breakup influence of Serbo-Croatian on Slovene continued to a lesser extent, most prominently in slang in colloquial language . Joža Mahnič , a literary historian and president of the publishing house Slovenska matica , said in February 2008 that Slovene is a language rich enough to express everything, including the most sophisticated and specialised texts. In February 2010, Janez Dular ,
4200-511: The region. The first printed Slovene words, stara pravda (meaning 'old justice' or 'old laws'), appeared in 1515 in Vienna in a poem of the German mercenaries who suppressed the Slovene peasant revolt : the term was presented as the peasants' motto and battle cry. Standard Slovene emerged in the second half of the 16th century, thanks to the works of Slovene Lutheran authors, who were active during
4270-533: The rise of Romantic nationalism in the 19th century, the cultural movements of Illyrism and Pan-Slavism brought words from Serbo-Croatian , specifically Croatian dialects, and Czech into standard Slovene, mostly to replace words previously borrowed from German. Most of these innovations have remained, although some were dropped in later development. In the second half of the 19th century, many nationalist authors made an abundant use of Serbo-Croatian words: among them were Fran Levstik and Josip Jurčič , who wrote
SECTION 60
#17328302503164340-514: The same proto-Slavic group of languages that produced Old Church Slavonic . The earliest known examples of a distinct, written dialect connected to Slovene are from the Freising manuscripts , known in Slovene as Brižinski spomeniki . The consensus estimate of their date of origin is between 972 and 1039 (most likely before 1000). These religious writings are among the oldest surviving manuscripts in any Slavic language. The Freising manuscripts are
4410-447: The southern hemisphere), Eta Virginids (February 24 and March 27, peaking around March 18), and Pi Virginids (February 13 and April 8, peaking between March 3 and March 9). The zodiac signs of February are Aquarius (until February 18) and Pisces (February 19 onward). Its birth flowers are the violet ( Viola ), the common primrose ( Primula vulgaris ), and the Iris . Its birthstone
4480-414: The tonemic varieties of Slovene, the ambiguity is even greater: ⟨e⟩ in a final syllable can stand for any of /éː/ /èː/ /ɛ́ː/ /ɛ̀ː/ /ɛ/ /ə/ (although /ɛ̀ː/ is rare; and Slovene, except in some dialects, does not distinguished tonemic accentuation). The reader is expected to gather the interpretation of the word from the context, as in these examples: To compensate for the shortcomings of
4550-414: The younger generations of Slovene authors and intellectuals; among the most fierce opponents of an excessive Serbo-Croatian influence on Slovene were the intellectuals associated with the leftist journal Sodobnost , as well as some younger Catholic activists and authors. After 1945, numerous Serbo-Croatian words that had been used in the previous decades were dropped. The result was that a Slovene text from
4620-476: Was applied in many spheres of public life in Slovenia. For example, at the post offices, railways and in administrative offices, Serbo-Croatian was used alongside Slovene. However, state employees were expected to be able to speak Slovene in Slovenia. During the same time, western Slovenia (the Slovenian Littoral and the western districts of Inner Carniola ) was under Italian administration and subjected to
4690-566: Was commonly used in almost all areas of public life. One important exception was the Yugoslav army , where Serbo-Croatian was used exclusively, even in Slovenia. National independence has further fortified the language: since 1991, when Slovenia gained independence, Slovene has been used as an official language in all areas of public life. In 2004 it became one of the official languages of the European Union upon Slovenia's admission. Nonetheless,
4760-434: Was the dialect used in the 16th century by Primož Trubar for his writings, while he also used Slovene as spoken in Ljubljana, since he lived in the city for more than 20 years. It was the speech of Ljubljana that Trubar took as a foundation of what later became standard Slovene, with small addition of his native speech, that is Lower Carniolan dialect . Trubar's choice was later adopted also by other Protestant writers in
4830-399: Was the language of the elite, and Slovene was the language of the common people. During this period, German had a strong influence on Slovene, and many Germanisms are preserved in contemporary colloquial Slovene. Many Slovene scientists before the 1920s also wrote in foreign languages, mostly German, which was the lingua franca of science throughout Central Europe at the time. During
4900-633: Was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary month, Intercalaris , was occasionally inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the seasons . February observances in Ancient Rome included Amburbium (precise date unknown), Sementivae (February 2), Februa (February 13–15), Lupercalia (February 13–15), Parentalia (February 13–22), Quirinalia (February 17), Feralia (February 21), Caristia (February 22), Terminalia (February 23), Regifugium (February 24), and Agonium Martiale (February 27). These days do not correspond to
#315684