Common Era - Similar Conventions in Other Languages

Similar Conventions in Other Languages

Several languages other than English also have both religious and non-religious ways of identifying the era used in dates. In some communist states during the Cold War period, usage of non-religious notation was mandated.

• In Hebrew, the most common term used to refer to BCE/CE is simply לספירה (according to the count) for CE, and לפני הספירה (before the count) for BCE. An alternative term, expressing an ideological (sometimes religious) approach aimed at distancing oneself from the source of the count, is למניינם (according to their count). The later is sometimes added after the former, especially in the case of BCE (e.g. שנת 150 לפני הספירה למנינם), due to technical linguistic reasons.
• In Arabic, بعد الميلاد (After the Birth) corresponds to CE, while قبل الميلاد (Before the Birth) corresponds to BCE. The "Birth" referenced is that of Jesus. This system is in widespread use in all Arab countries, but is accompanied by the Hijri system. Dates are often given in both in that order. In Saudi Arabia, however, the Hijri System is predominant.
• In the Chinese language, common era (公元， Gong yuan) has been predominantly used to refer to the western calendar without any religious connotation.
• In Germany, Enlightened Jews in Berlin seem to have already been using "(Before the) Common Era" in the 18th century, while others like Moses Mendelssohn opposed this usage as it would hinder the integration of Jews into German society. The formulation seems to have persisted among German Jews in the 19th century in forms like vor der gewöhnlichen Zeitrechnung (before the common chronology). In 1938 Nazi Germany, the use of this convention was also prescribed by the National Socialist Teachers League, apparently because the Christian and Roman chronology were not "Germanic" enough. However, it was soon discovered that many German Jews had been using the convention ever since the 18th century, and they found it ironic to see "Aryans following Jewish example nearly 200 years later." The German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) introduced the convention of v. u. Z. (vor unserer Zeitrechnung, before our chronology) and u. Z. (unserer Zeitrechnung, of our chronology) instead of v. Chr. (vor Christus, before Christ) and n. Chr. (nach Christus/Christi Geburt, after Christ/the Nativity of Christ). The use of these terms persists in contemporary German to some extent, differing regionally and ideologically. In Jewish contexts mostly "v. d. Z" ("vor der Zeitenwende") and "n. d. Z." ("nach der Zeitenwende") is used.
• In Hungary, similarly to the Bulgarian case, i. e. (időszámításunk előtt, before our era) and i. sz. (időszámításunk szerint, according to our era) are still widely used instead of traditional Kr. e. (Krisztus előtt, Before Christ) and Kr. u. (Krisztus után, After Christ), which were unofficially reinstituted after the Communist period.
• In Poland the only term generally used is naszej ery/przed naszą erą (of our era/before our era). The terms przed Chrystusem/po Chrystusie (before Christ/after Christ) are possible but nearly never used in contemporary Poland.
• In Italy and other Latin countries, the use of "a.e.v." and "e.v.", meaning "Ante Era Vulgaris" and "Era Vulgaris" or "Era Volgare" (common era), is increasing.
• In Angola, the abbreviations "E.C." ("Era Comum", Common Era) and "A.E.C." ("Antes da Era Comum", Before Common Era) is generally used.
• In Romania, throughout most of the communist period, the preferred standard was to use the secularised î. e. n. (înaintea erei noastre, before our era) and e. n. (era noastră, our era). After the downfall of Communism and the 1989 revolution, the original convention using î. Hr. (înainte de Hristos, before Christ) and d. Hr. (după Hristos, after Christ) has become more widespread. Alternatively, î. Cr. and d. Cr. are used, mainly due to an alternative spelling of Hristos (Christ) as Cristos, the latter being preferred by the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.
• In Indonesia, the terms SM. (Sebelum Masehi, before Masehi, from Arabic word of Masih, referred to Jesus) and M. (Masehi, after Masehi) were generally used.
• In Finland, the terms eKr. (ennen Kristusta, before Christ) and jKr. (jälkeen Kristuksen, after Christ) were largely used until the 1980s but have been mostly replaced during the last couple of decades with terms eaa. (ennen ajanlaskun alkua, before start of chronology) and jaa. (jälkeen ajanlaskun alun, after start of chronology).
• In Swedish the terms f.Kr. (före Kristus, before Christ) and e.Kr. (efter Kristus, after Christ) have traditionally been used. They have gradually been replaced by f.v.t and e.v.t (före/efter vår tidräkning, before/after our chronology) especially in scientific texts.
• In Korean, 기원전(紀元後), which means "preceding the era", is used to indicate years B.C.E. 서기(西紀), "Western era", short for 서력기원(西暦紀元), meaning " the origin year of the Western calendar", is used to indicate years C.E. Christians use 주후, meaning "after the Lord", as a shorthand calque of Anno Domini.
• In Japan the calendar is referred to as (西暦, seireki), literally meaning as it is written, "west calendar," and sounding like, "Western calendar," which carries no religious connotation, aside from the fact that Christianity is a Western religion. "A.D.," and less commonly, "C.E.," are also occasionally seen, but the typical Japanese person would not know about the religious connotations or lack of in these terms.
• In Spanish, EC (Era Común) is used for CE, while AEC (antes de la Era Común) is equivalent to BCE.
• In Welsh, OC can be expanded to equivalents of both AD (Oed Crist) and CE (Oes Cyffredin); for dates before the Common Era, CC (traditionally, Cyn Crist) is used exclusively, as Cyn yr Oes Cyffredin would abbreviate to a mild obscenity.