# All dialects: month names vs. numbers



## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic, actual month names are virtually never used, with the exception of set phrases like كذبة نيسان، آب اللهّاب، أيلول الأسود. 99% of the time we use the numbers 1-12 to refer to months (شهر واحد، شهر تنين، إلخ or just واحد، تنين، إلخ if it's clear from context that you mean the month).  For example, if someone asked me when my birthday was, I would say تسعة وعشرين تسعة ("twenty-nine, nine"), not تسعة وعشرين أيلول ("twenty-nine September").  I would say that because the actual month names are very rarely used, many people may not have a very good handle on them, and may need to stop and think if they heard or needed to produce one.

What's it like in your dialect or the dialect(s) you're familiar with?  Can you give approximate percentages regarding how often actual month names vs. numbers are used?  For Palestinian I would say it's 99%+ numbers, and less than 1% month names.


----------



## Ihsiin

It’s quite common in Iraqi to say الشهر الأول، الشهر الثاني، الشهر الثالث and so on, starting with January.


----------



## djara

Numbers are never used for months in Tunisian.


----------



## barkoosh

djara said:


> Numbers are never used for months in Tunisian.


Also in Lebanon, although numbers for months are sometimes used when writing dates. We don't use month numbers in our daily life. If someone tells me that he was born in the 9th month, my brain automatically makes conversions ("that's September"). ("Or maybe he's saying that he's not سباعي [born at the 7th month of pregnancy]?")


----------



## elroy

In Palestinian, unlike in Iraqi, we do not say الشهر التاسع; we say شهر تسعة or just تسعة.  If someone did say خلقت بالشعر التاسع, that could only mean, depending on context, "I was not born prematurely" (as barkoosh says) or "I was born in the ninth month of _*something *_other than _the year_" (for example, "the ninth month of the war").

I wonder if الشهر التاسع is ambiguous in Iraqi?


barkoosh said:


> Also in Lebanon


 I've only ever heard actual month names from Lebanese people, but I didn't know whether numbers were also used. 


Ihsiin said:


> It’s quite common in Iraqi to say الشهر الأول، الشهر الثاني، الشهر الثالث and so on, starting with January.


 Are month names also used?


----------



## Sun-Shine

elroy said:


> 99% of the time we use the numbers 1-12 to refer to months (شهر واحد، شهر تنين، إلخ or just واحد، تنين، إلخ if it's clear from context that you mean the month).  For example, if someone asked me when my birthday was, I would say تسعة وعشرين تسعة ("twenty-nine, nine"), not تسعة وعشرين أيلول ("twenty-nine September").


The same in Egypt, we use the number of the month. Names are used when you write dates at school (sometimes), on special occasions like "Mother's Day" واحد وعشرين مارس and on TV.


----------



## tounsi51

I noticed Moroccans do use them either in French or Arabic

Le mois 8 / huit or شهر تمنية


----------



## momai

barkoosh said:


> Also in Lebanon, although numbers for months are sometimes used when writing dates. We don't use month numbers in our daily life. If someone tells me that he was born in the 9th month, my brain automatically makes conversions ("that's September"). ("Or maybe he's saying that he's not سباعي [born at the 7th month of pregnancy]?")


Dito...


----------



## Ihsiin

elroy said:


> I wonder if الشهر التاسع is ambiguous in Iraqi?



Not really, if someone says الشهر التاسع I will understand it to mean September unless some context implies otherwise.



> Are month names also used?



I don't think so, I tend not to hear month names used.


----------



## elroy

How would a date (day and month) be said in Iraqi?


----------



## Schem

djara said:


> Numbers are never used for months in Tunisian.



The same in Saudi Arabia. People may actually not know when exactly Shawwal or August are but they'll know their names and prefer using them over their rankings.


----------



## elroy

Schem said:


> Shawwal or August


 In everyday communication, do Saudi Arabians generally use the Islamic calendar, the Gregorian calendar, or both to say dates?  My understanding is that the Islamic calendar is used in formal/official/governmental documents, but what about everyday communication?  If both are used, about what percentage of usage does each constitute?


----------



## Schem

Both are used. The country (and national zeitgeist) are moving closer to adopting Gregorian fully but Hijri is still widely in use. Usage percentages vary depending on multiple factors including age, socioeconomic background, government vs private sector in both education & job market, etc.


----------



## fdb

I have the impression that the use of numbers instead of month names is typical of anglophone countries (Palestine, Iraq), but not of francophone countries (Lebanon, Tunisia etc.). In English it is very common to say things like "the twenty-sixth of the seventh", or just "twenty-six seven" (US English: "seven twenty-six").


----------



## Hemza

tounsi51 said:


> I noticed Moroccans do use them either in French or Arabic
> 
> Le mois 8 / huit or شهر تمنية



In French? May be amongst the "French speaking want to be" but not at all amongst the rest of the population who says شهر ت/ثمنية, عشرة or use the arabised version of the Gregorian month's names.

Also in Hassaniya, there are names for the months which are used. People don't call them by numbers (this is valid for Mauritania too).


----------



## Ihsiin

elroy said:


> How would a date (day and month) be said in Iraqi?



Just the numbers, I think reflecting numeral notation, for example, the first of July would be 01/07 - واحد سبعة.


----------



## tounsi51

Hemza said:


> In French? May be amongst the "French speaking want to be" but not at all amongst the rest of the population who says شهر ت/ثمنية, عشرة or use the arabised version of the Gregorian month's names.
> 
> Also in Hassaniya, there are names for the months which are used. People don't call them by numbers (this is valid for Mauritania too).



Yes in French. But he was from the South and not even proficient in French.


----------



## elroy

fdb said:


> In English it is very common to say things like "the twenty-sixth of the seventh", or just "twenty-six seven" (US English: "seven twenty-six").


 I don't know about UK English, but for US English "very common" is a huge overstatement.  I've never heard the first formulation, and the second one is only used very occasionally (such as when you have to give an official your date of birth).  I would say people use the names of the months at least 95% of the time. 


Ihsiin said:


> the first of July would be 01/07 - واحد سبعة


 So if it's just the month, it's الشهر السابع (not شهر سبعة), but if it's the day and the month, it's واحد سبعة?


----------



## Ihsiin

elroy said:


> So if it's just the month, it's الشهر السابع (not شهر سبعة), but if it's the day and the month, it's واحد سبعة?



Yes, this sounds correct, I've never heard anyone say شهر سبعة or the like.


----------

