Expert: Natasha Kozyreva - 4/30/2009

Question
Hi Natasha,

As I think I've mentioned before, I live in Turkey.

I am currently doing a Turkish course, and the teacher said that the Turkish word for “moon” (ay) can only be used for the heavenly body which circles the earth. For the moons of other planets you can only say "uydu" (satellite).

However, the English word “moon” can be used e.g. for the two satellites of Mars, Deimos and Phobos: "Mars has two moons" is perfectly good English.

Please, what is the case in Russian? Is луна́ only used of Earth’s moon, or can it be used for any of the moons belonging to any of the planets?

All the best,

Simon

Answer
Hello Simon,

I believe that in this case the Russian word is used similarly to the English one. The dictionary of Ushakov says "луна" may refer to a satellite of any planet, not just the earth ("Девять лун Сатурна").
And this usage is not rare either: http://www.google.ru/search?hl=en&q=%22%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%8B+%D1%81%D0%B0%D1%...

Still if one is not an astronomer, one is more likely to say "спутник". By the way, as the latter also means "the person who accompanies", it adds a human touch to celestial bodies :)

Best regards,
Natasha