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Language and Text
2026. Vol. 13, no. 1, 5–17
doi:10.17759/langt.2026130101
ISSN: 2312-2757 (online)

The origin of linguistic and culturological aspects of the weekly terms division of time in Chinese

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The article discusses and analyzes the features of the appearance in the modern Chinese language of the week terms division of time from the linguistic and cultural points of view. The analysis tool is a comparative analysis of the terms of the Old Chinese language Wenyan and modern Chinese Putonghua. Objective. An attempt is made to explain the designations of the seven-day weekly cycle, which has been preserved in use to this day. It is noted that in the ancient versions of the designation of the days of the week (namely, in the names of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) contains five primary elements of the universe in its eastern sense (namely, fire, water, wood, metal, earth). It is indicated that the listed primary elements form the most important cycles of the ancient Chinese worldview, alternating images in their different sequence. The cycle of creation, or generation, and the cycle of destruction, or suppression. Separately, the authors consider the complete coincidence of the semantic and mythological content of the five considered primary elements in the Chinese names of the planets. A comparative analysis of the terms of the weekly division of time is also carried out, both in Eastern languages - Chinese, Japanese, Korean - and some Indo-European languages - English, French, Spanish, Italian. Conclusions. General positions and trends in the formation of the week terms division of time are revealed and conclusions are drawn that clarify some issues related to this issue in each of the aforenamed languages.

General Information

Keywords: basis of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic creation, weekly cycle, ancient Chinese name of the week, modern Chinese names of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun, five elements of the Chinese universe fivefold and septenary cycles of the Chinese universe, vertical and horizontal Chinese writing, reading from right to left and left to right

Journal rubric: General and Comparative Historical Linguistics

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2026130101

Received 15.11.2025

Revised 28.02.2026

Accepted

Published

For citation: Apanasyuk, L.A., Zatruskin, P.V. (2026). The origin of linguistic and culturological aspects of the weekly terms division of time in Chinese. Language and Text, 13(1), 5–17. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2026130101

© Apanasyuk L.A., Zatruskin P.V., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Larisa A. Apanasyuk, Doctor of Education, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Culture, Russian State Social University, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6742-5666, e-mail: ApanasiukLA@rgsu.net

Pavel V. Zatruskin, Senior Lecturer, Department of Eastern Languages, Moscow Pedagogical State University, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2450-7260, e-mail: pavel.pie@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Larisa A. Apanasyuk — data collection and analysis; writing and design of the manuscript.

Pavel V. Zatruskin — idea of the research; planning of the research; annotation, writing and design of the manuscript.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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