Ukrainian follows Czech and Lithuanian in deciding to ditch the commonly-known pagan names for the months used in the vast majority of European languages (including English) in favour of quirky names that refer to the time of year. A couple of them are very similar to the Czech ones actually, and my own suspicion is that they thought of this idea first.
січень-sichen'-'rod/pole' (??) is January
лютий-lyutii-'very cold' (also very original!) is, not surprisingly, February
березень -berezen'-'the birch month'-known to you and I as March-is pretty similar to the Czech 'březen'
квітень-kviten'-flowers-is April (Czech waits until May for this)
травень-tvaren'-May-grass (great . . . maybe it loses something in translation)
червень-cherven'-June-worms (I may look at taking my holiday around this time)
липень-lipen'--lime trees-July
серпень-serpen'-sickle-August
вересень-veresen'-heather-September (I like this one)
жовтень-zhovten'-October means 'turning yellow' (which can't be healthy at all)
листопад-listopad-November-which means 'falling leaves' (but sounds more like a type of sanitary towel) is exactly the same as in Czech.
грудень-gruden'-December-is 'frozen ground'
Well, you have to love the quirkiness anyway. Just hope, looking at these, that I somehow make it through the year . . .
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