The word is used in modern
Russian (Коляда́, ),
Ukrainian ("Коляда" ),
Belarusian (
Каляда, Kalyada, Kaliada),
Polish (Szczodre Gody
kolęda ),
Bulgarian,
Macedonian,
Serbo-Croatian (
Коледа, Коледе, koleda, kolenda),
Lithuanian (
Kalėdos, Kalėda),
Czech,
Slovak,
Slovene (
koleda) and
Romanian (
Colindă). The word used in
Old Church Slavonic language (Колѧда - Kolęda) sounds closest to the current Polish language pronunciation, as Polish is one of two Slavic languages which retains the nasal vowels of the Proto-Slavic language (the other is closely related Kashubian). One theory states that
Koliada is the name of a cycle of winter rituals stemming from the ancient
calendae as for example the
Kalenda Proclamation. In modern
Belarusian (каляда),
Ukrainian (koliada),
Czech,
Slovak,
Croatian (koleda, kolenda),
Kashubian (
kòlãda [kwɛlãda]) and
Polish (
kolęda , Old Polish
kolenda) the meaning has shifted from Christmas itself to denoting the tradition of strolling, singing, and having fun on
Christmas Eve, same in the Balkan Slavs. It specifically applies to children and teens who walk house to house greeting people, singing and sifting grain that denotes the best wishes and receiving candy and small money in return. The action is called
kolyadovanye () in Russian,
kolyaduvannya (
Ukrainian колядування) in Ukrainian and is now applied to similar Old
East Slavic celebrations of other old significant holidays, such as
Generous Eve (, , ) the evening before New Year's Day, as well as the celebration of the arrival of spring. Similarly in
Bulgaria and
North Macedonia, in the tradition of
koleduvane (коледуване) or
koledarenje (коледарење) around Christmas, groups of children visiting houses, singing carols and receiving a gift at parting. The kids are called '
koledari' or rarely 'kolezhdani' who sing
kolyadki (songs). Koleda is also celebrated across northern
Greece by the
Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia, in areas from
Florina to
Thessaloniki, where it is called
Koleda (Κόλιντα, Κόλιαντα) or
Koleda Babo (Κόλιντα Μπάμπω) which means "Koleda Grandmother" in Slavic. It is celebrated before Christmas by gathering in the village square and lighting a bonfire, followed by local
Macedonian music and dancing. Croatian composer
Jakov Gotovac wrote in 1925 the composition "Koleda", which he called a "folk rite in five parts", for male choir and small orchestra (three
clarinets, two
bassoons,
timpani and
drum). Also,
Dubrovnik kolenda is one of the oldest recorded traditions of this kind in Croatia (its first mentioned in 13th century). There is also a
dance from
Dubrovnik called "The Dubrovnik Koleda." It is celebrated in the Büyükmandıra village of
Babaeski district,
Kırklareli Province in
Turkey as a
halloween-like festival and dates back a thousand years. ==See also==