The observation and naming of the phases of the moon long remain quite unsystematic. The names are mingled with terms arising from other circumstances. Of the Thonga of S. E. Africa it is reported:—When the first quarter appears, the moon is said to thwasa, a Zulu word which corresponds to tjhama in Thonga, and is very much used in the terminology of possessions. Eight days later it is said to basa, to be white or brilliant; full moon is said to sima or lata batjongwana, to put the little children to bed, because when it rises it finds them already sleeping on their mats. The wane is called kushwela dambo, the moon is then found by the rising sun to be still in the sky, not having yet dipped below the horizon. When at last it disappears, it is munyama, the obscurity, the moon is said to fa, to have died[673]. The position of the moon in the sky is also taken into consideration, but not to such an extent as among the Ewe tribes[674]; the latter however are also acquainted with another terminology. Full moon is called ‘the moon fits’, i. e. nothing of it is wanting, new moon ‘the moon is dead’. In the first quarter and at the half-moon they say: ‘the moon is half round’ or ‘falls upon the wood’, i. e. stands low on the horizon; shortly before full moon ‘the moon is about to become complete’, ‘is on the increase’; after the full moon ‘the moon is about to wane’; three days after full moon ‘the moon has cheated some people’, since it leaves in the lurch those who wish to play in the evening; in the last quarter ‘the moon is like the tail of the cock’ or ‘sleeps in the open’, since it stands in the sky at day-break[675]. For the pagan races of the Malay Peninsula words are given for the new moon, the crescent of the moon, the half-moon, the end of the waning moon, no moon[676]. The Bontoc Igorot of Luzon describe three phases between full moon and the waning moon, and three between new moon and full moon, eight altogether therefore, and have special names for them, but rarely make use of them in time-reckoning[677]. The Nabaloi have other words for the same phases, and also one for the moon showing a rim of light[678]. The natives of New Britain (Bismarck Archipelago) observed the phases of the moon (kalang), and had separate terms for them, e. g. ‘moon not visible’, ‘first quarter of the moon (sic!)’, ‘nearly full moon’ (in which they hunted for the land-crabs), full moon, ‘beginning to wane’, ‘moon when seen in the morning’, etc. They also measured time between sunset and moon-rise by the ‘smouldering of a torch’, the time occupied in cooking yams, taro, and wild taro[679]. In Buin the crescent as it becomes visible is first called rubui, ‘the pupil (of the eye) is dead’, since the whole moon is often to be seen as a dark disc when the crescent is first formed. Later they say motoguba, ‘a hook is made’. Still later, nobele, ‘a piece’, ‘a bit’. When the moon’s disc is full, mairen, ‘it is ripe’ or ‘old’, and roukeu, ‘it is equal’, i. e. full. When the moon begins to wane, it is called ingom, ‘puffed out’. The ‘puffing out’ becomes weaker, and now the moon will die, ekio buagi. Throughout the period of the waning moon the expression used is buan-gubio-eiraubi, ‘it is on the point of passing away to die’. During the period of the waxing moon they say (ekio) duabegubi-eiraubi, ‘(the moon) is about to pass away to the sun(light)-making’. During the time of new moon they say mamarabui, ‘the great kobold is dead’, or ekio buaguro, ‘the moon is dead’. When it appears again they say ekio rukui, ‘the moon again makes pupils’, i. e. is in the sky. From the appearance of the moon until the time of new moon they reckon 25 days. The number however is not always the same, but is variously given as 30–31 days or sometimes as only 15. It must be supposed that thick clouds often hinder the observation. The natives count from the rising of the moon[680]. Of the tribes of the Torres Straits we are told:—In Mabuiag the following descriptions of the phases of the moon are used:—dang mulpal, ‘tooth-moon’, since the crescent at its first appearance is described as unmarried: a little later the moon is called kisai, and termed young. The half-moon is ipi laig, ‘married person’; the moon in the third quarter is described as kazi laig, ‘person with child’, and is regarded as having one child, i. e. presumably as being pregnant; the full moon is badi, which is said to mean ‘big one married’. In Mer the crescent of the moon when first observed was called aketi meb, the moon in the first quarter was meb digemli, in the third meb zizimi, almost full eip meb, and full moon giz meb[681].
Among the tribes of Central Brazil (the Bakairi), as also elsewhere, the phases of the moon have found mythological expression. The moon is represented as a shuttle-cock; the phases start from the full moon. First a lizard comes and takes hold of it, on the second day an armadillo, and then a Giant armadillo, whose thick body soon quite covers the yellow feathers[682]. The phases are similarly explained among the Paressi[683].
In regard to the more accurate determination of the days of the moon-month up to the point when each day has its separate name, it is possible to proceed in two ways, either to develop more and more elaborately the concrete descriptions from the phases and positions of the moon, until every day thus takes its name from the shape or the position of the moon, or else simply to number the days. The simple counting and numbering of all the days of the month from the new moon up to 29 or 30 is the most abstract method, and it is only found among the most highly developed peoples. Commonly a mixed system obtains, such, for instance, as that of the Romans, so that within the month, from the starting-points offered by the phases, the days of a certain smaller division are counted, or a short phase is distinguished by means of adjectives in the first, the second, and even the third day of the phase.
The following may serve as an example of a purely concrete system. Among the Mendalam Kayan of Borneo the different days of the period of the moon’s visibility have the following names in the Busang language (the common commercial tongue of the Bukau):—njina (see) dang (pretty well); matau (eye) dang; lekurdang; butit (belly) halab (tetrodon, a trunk-fish) ok (little); butit halab aja (big); keleong (body) paja ok; keleong paja aja; beleling (edge) dija; and kamat (full moon). The days following have the same names, but in the inverse order, and with the addition of uli, i. e. to go home. The days of the moon’s invisibility are not reckoned[684]. The days mentioned amount to only 2 × 8; others must therefore be lacking, or do the names given apply to moon-phases of more than one day’s duration? The author’s wording seems to contradict this. The Batak of Sumatra describe the days by the names of the planets (borrowed from the Sanskrit), repeated four times. To distinguish one from another they make use of additions some of which may probably be referred to original Batak terms[685]. A complete system exists among the Toradja of the Dutch East Indies, in connexion with a fully developed day-superstition such as so often accompanies the moon-month. On certain days, here distinguished by an asterisk, it is forbidden to work in the fields: other work is however permitted. *1, eo mboeja, ‘day of the moon’, from the evening on which the crescent of the moon was first seen. 2 to 9 have no special names: they are called altogether oeajoeeo, ‘the eight days’; the people count ka’isanja oeajoe, ‘the first of the eight’, or oejoeënja, ‘the beginner’, then the second, the third, etc., and so on up to kapoesanja oeajoe, ‘the end of the eight’. 10, woeja mbawoe kodi, ‘the little pig moon’. *11, woeja mbawoe bangke, ‘the great pig moon’; there is a danger that the pigs may break into the fields. *12, taoe koi, 13, taoe bangke, ‘the little’ and ‘the great man moon’; 14, kakoenia, from koeni, ‘yellow’ (among the To Pebato sompe, ‘lying’, i. e. on the horizon). *15, togin enggeri, from gengge, ‘to run to and fro’ (of animals seeking food), i. e. one is annoyed by those who run to and fro. *16, pombarani, ‘the burner’, since the moon in the morning shines on the house-door; or more rarely pombontje. 17 to 20, wani, ‘dark’. 21, merontjo, among the To Pebato wani of kapoesa mbani, the last dark day. *22, kawe, ‘to wink’, 23–25, the second, third, and last kawe. *26, toe’a marate, ‘the long tree-trunk’ (trunk of a felled tree). 27, toe’a rede, ‘the short stump’, in the east ojonja saeo, ‘with a day in between’, i. e. until the vanishing of the moon. 28, polioenja, ‘passing’, i. e. the moon goes past the sun. 29, soea, ‘going inside’, ‘inside’, because the moon is then completely inside. Every second month has 30 days; the *30th is called soea ma’i, the soea ‘on this side’, the second soea. The days are named from the position of the moon at sunrise, since only the agricultural day is of any importance[686].
In Micro- and Polynesia this kind of terminology is best developed. In Samoa the period of the new moon has few names; the new moon is called masina pupula, the nights after this—when a little of the moon is once more visible—mu’a mu’a. On the other hand the days up to and after the full moon have separate names, and are of importance on account of the palolo, which is then eagerly sought after. Full moon, masina ’atoa, ‘full’; 1, night after full moon, masina le’ale’a; 2, masina fe’etelele; 3, masina atatai, the sea sparkles at the rising; 4, fana’ele’ele, according to Stair ‘paling tide’; 5, sulutele, the mali’o-crab is caught with torches (sulu), according to Stair poolesa, night of the lesa; 6, masina mauna, according to Stair popololoa, ‘long nights’; 7, masina mauna; 8 (the first palolo-day), usunoa, ‘wandering about aimlessly’, also called salefu, since foam (lefu) appears as the first sign of the palolo; 9, masina motusaga (second palolo-day), motu ‘fragile’, saga ‘continuing’; 10, tatelego, great palolo-day, which may also begin on the 9th, ta = to fish; 11 (new moon), masina punifaga, ‘only a little covered’; 12, masina tafaleu, ‘little cut away’; 13, masina tafaleu. The crescent shortly before new moon is called masina fa’atoaoina[687].
In Hawaii the system was very elaborately developed. The month had thirty days; 17 of these had compound names (inoa huhui), and 13 had simple names (inoa pakahi). These names were given to the different nights to correspond with the phases of the moon. There were three phases—ano—, marking the moon’s increase and decrease of size, (1) the first appearance of the new moon in the west at evening, (2) the time of full moon when it stood directly overhead (lit. over the island) at midnight, (3) the period when the moon was waning, when it shewed itself in the east late at night. It was with reference to these three phases of the moon that names were given to the nights that made up the month[688]. In former times there is said to have been a division of the month into periods of ten days, corresponding to the increase, the full, and the decline of the moon[689]. The names of the nights were:—1, hilo, ‘to twist’, because the part then seen was a mere thread; 2, hoaka, ‘crescent’; 3, kukahi; 4, kulua; 5, kukolu; 6, kupua; 7, olekukahi; 8, olekulua; 9, olekukolu; 10, olekupau. When the sharp points were lost in the moon’s first quarter, the name of that night was 11, huna, ‘to conceal’; the next, on its becoming gibbous, was 12, mohalu; 13, hua, ‘egg’; and when its roundness was quite obvious, 14, akua, ‘God’. The nights in which the moon was full or nearly so were:—15, hoku; 16, marealaui; 17, kolu. The night in which the moon’s decrease became perceptible was called 18, laaukukahi. As it continued to diminish the nights were called:—19, olaaukulua; 20, laaupau; 21, olekukahi; 22, olekulua; 23, olepau; 24, kaloakukahi; 25, kaloakulua; 26, kaloapau; when the moon was very small, 27, mauli; the night in which it disappeared, 28, muku. This is Dibble’s list (pp. 24 ff.). Fornander (p. 126) counts in the same way up to 26, kaloapau, and then continues, 27, kaue; 28, lono; 29, mauli; 30, muku. Malo gives the same names as Dibble, with the following additions:—The 15th night had two names. If the moon set before daylight it was called hoku palemo, ‘sinking star’, but if, when daylight came, it was still above the horizon, it was called hoku ili, ‘stranded star’. The second of the nights in which the moon did not set until after sunrise (the 16th) was called mahealaui. When the moon’s rising was delayed until after the darkness had set in, it was called 17, kulua, and the second of the nights in which the moon made its appearance after dark was 18, laau-ku-kahi; the moon had now waned so much as again to shew sharp horns. The night when the moon rose at dawn of day was kane (the 27th), and the following night, in which the moon rose only as the day was breaking, lono (the 28th). When the moon delayed its rising until daylight had come, it was called mauli (the 29th), ‘fainting’, and when its rising was so late that it could no longer be seen for the light of the sun, it was called muku (the 30th), ‘cut off’. Thus were accomplished the thirty days and nights of the month. A bare list of the thirty names of the days is given for the Marquesas[690]. Alongside of these a bipartite division of the month is mentioned—the moon arriving, and the moon about to be extinguished[691]. In New Zealand there are various lists of the nights of the moon. The month is also sometimes divided into halves according to the waxing and waning moon[692].
I give the Tahitian names in order to point out that here, as also in Hawaii, some days in the middle of both halves of the month have the same names, which are distinguished from the next following by additions the sense of which is unfortunately not always given. Thus:—1, tirreo; 2, tirrohiddi; 3, o-hatta; 4, ammi-amma; 5, ammi-amma-hoi; 6, orre-orre; 7, orre-orre-hoi; 8, tamatea; 9, huna; 10, orabu; 11, maharru; 12, ohua; 13, mahiddu; 14, ohoddu; 15, marai; 16, oturu; 17, ra-au; 18, ra-au-hoi; 19, ra-au-haddi; 20, ororo-tai; 21, ororo-rotto; 22, ororo-haddi; 23, tarroa-tahai; 24, tarroa-rotto; 25, tarroa-haddi; 26, tane; 27, oro-mua; 28, oro-muri; 29, omuddu (28 and 29 together matte-marama, on the Society Islands they say during these days that the moon is dead)[693]. In the islands just mentioned the names of three successive days are often formed from mua, ‘fore’, roto, ‘in the middle’, and muri, ‘hinder’[694], and in the Carolines names of the days are similarly combined in groups. From these lists it becomes plain how the names of the separate days have been first worked out from the phases of the moon. When only 29 names are given, the thirtieth day occurring only in every other month has evidently been left out. This must be the case, because the month always begins with the new moon. We further possess lists of the days of the month for the Mortlock Islands, and some for the Carolines, Ponape, Yap, Uleai, Lamotrek[695]; the lists for Lamotrek, Uleai, and the Mortlock Islands differ only in the dialect. It is to be noted that in some cases the month falls into smaller subdivisions, as in Ponape, where it begins after the full moon and consists of three periods:—1, rot, ‘darkness’, i. e. nights when there is no moon, 13 days; 2, mach, new moon, 9 days, which are numbered consecutively; 3, pul, the time of full moon, 5 days. Three days are therefore lacking (the time of invisibility?). In Yap 1, pul, new moon, 13 days; 2, botrau, full moon, 9 days; 3, lumor, ‘darkness’, 8 days.
The very fully developed system of the Nandi is curious in that not the phase but the time of the moon’s rising chiefly gives the name of the day. 1, ‘the tanners have seen the moon’; 2, ‘the moon is white’ or ‘new’; 3 and 4, ‘the moon has cast a light’; 5 and 6, ‘the moon has become warm’; 7 and 8, ‘the moon has leisure’; 9 and 10, ‘the herdsmen play in the moonlight’; 11 and 12, ‘the moon is high in the evening’; 13, ‘the moon turns’; 14, ‘the moon has accompanied the goats to the kraal’[696]; 16 (full moon), ‘the moon has passed along (the heavens)’; 17, (morning) ‘the birds have driven away the moon’, (evening) ‘the moon has disappeared for a short while’; 18, ‘the moon has commenced to rise late’; 19 to 21, ‘the moon is late’; 22, ‘the moon has climbed up’ (i. e. stands high in the heavens in the morning); 23 to 25, ‘the moon is late up above’; 26 and 27, ‘the moon has turned’ (i. e. goes towards the west); 28, ‘the moon is nearing death’; 29, ‘the people discuss the moon’ (discuss whether it is dead), or ‘the sun has murdered the moon’; 30, ‘the moon is dead’, or ‘the moon’s darkness’[697].
An example of the naming of smaller groups of days after the phases of the moon is afforded by the old Arabian names for the nights of the month[698]. The nights are grouped in threes, and are called:—1–3, ghurar, ‘the bright ones’; 4–6, nufal, ‘the overlapping nights’ (?); 7–9, tusa’, ‘the nine’; 10–12, ‘ushar, ‘the ten’; 13–15, ‘the white nights’, lit. ‘ajjam al-lajālī l-bidi, ‘the days of the white nights’, the time of full moon; 16–18, dura’, ‘the white nights with black heads’, since the moon does not rise until the night; 19–21, zulam, ‘the dark nights’; 22–24, hanadis or duhm, ‘the very dark nights’; 25–27, da’ādī’, perhaps after mihaq; 28–30, mihaq, from mhq, ‘to extinguish’. The time of the moon’s invisibility, mihaq, consists of the following days:—1, ad-da’dja, ‘the black one’; 2, as-sirār, from srr, ‘to be hidden’; 3, al-falta, ‘sudden event’, ‘attack’. According to some this last name is used only on the night before, according to others after, a holy month. This looks like an attempt to regulate the insertion of the 30th day.