2007-02-16 22:04:34 · 15 answers · asked by Megs 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Good question.
The moon has always had a name among civilized peoples.
The Greeks called the moon Selene and the sun Helios.
Luna, the Latin term, tells us the Romans followed the Greek practice, with Sol for the sun--from these the terms lunar and solar.
The problem is, English came out of a Frankish Low German group of linguistic speakers.
They were brave, honest and not corrupt--but they had no words for emotions, and the seemed to refer to the heaven;y bodies by designation terms, not personalized names--the moon, the stars, the sun.
Also, our one satellite is very big,although it doesn't seem so, compared to its parent planet. and since it's the only one we have, it's easier for folks to say,
"There's the Moon", instead of "There's our moon", or There's Luna"...On a planet with several moons, grammatically you'd have to say which one you'd just spotted...
2007-02-17 01:34:00 · answer #1 · answered by Robert David M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm Greek and in our astronomy books there is a distinct name for the Moon, we call it Selene. There is also another word for the Moon most Greeks would use for everyday communication, Feggari. All other moons we call them natural satellites or simply satellites (that is, of a planet).
It seems that this hasn't passed to the English language, though. In English the only way to refer to this object is to call it the Moon emphasizing on the capitalization of the letter M. Lunar (as in lunar eclipse) is simply the adjective coming from Latin.
2007-02-16 23:12:30 · answer #2 · answered by stardom65 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What a totally cool question.
I typed in "name of the moon" in the browser and chose a link that suggested that since the word moon is capitalized when referring to our moon, that is the actual name of it. I suppose it would be something like naming the boat sitting in the yard "The Boat".
Well, that's about the best I can do on that one, Lol.
I really must come up with some questions like that.
2007-02-16 22:22:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Name our moon is " The Moon "
2007-02-17 01:49:46 · answer #4 · answered by the champ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought it was called THE moon
So it makes it out to be THE most important of all moons such that other moons are named after it.
My favorite moon are around Neptune called Triton, it looks like a rock melon.
If you were to name The Moon by another name what name would you give it?
2007-02-16 22:14:21 · answer #5 · answered by Sweet n Sour 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can see that you are have to learn astronomy. Our moon does have a name like other planets do...it is called LUNAR!
A person who endlessly looks at the moon is called a lunatic.
2007-02-16 22:37:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It does. It is " The Moon ", others have other names because there is only one " The Moon ".
2007-02-16 22:13:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It does have a name..Its name is MOON..
The Moon and other planet's 'moons' are generally called SATELLITES..we're only accustomed with calling the planetary satellites as 'moons' because we call our own satellite that name..It has already become a habit..
Ok??;-)
2007-02-16 22:54:46 · answer #8 · answered by nixx31 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Our moon does have a name. Lunar from latin routes
2007-02-16 23:03:47 · answer #9 · answered by Mutley! 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Great question. Maybe because it's our moon, and no one ever thought of giving it a name other than its' astronomical namesake?
2007-02-16 22:17:57 · answer #10 · answered by acesfourpal 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋