Subscribe to Blog via Email
April 2025 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Category: Linguistics
When, and why, did the word ‘sure’ become so ubiquitous at the start of answering a question?
I’d like to thank my wife for arranging access for me to the State Library of Victoria (for free!) Inter alia, this gets me access to the OED. OED? First attested use: 1651, in a trial transcript: Att. Gen. Was Mr. Love present when this letter was read? Far. Yes sure, he was present. First […]
Why do the Romani people in Bulgaria and Greece speak Turkish among themselves?
I don’t know the full answer, and I’m not seeing enough of an answer in Wikipedia. Let me put together what I know. There have been Roma in Greece for the better part of a millennium; we know linguistically that they went through Anatolia and Greece on the way to Europe, there is Greek in […]
In the English language, why is remuneration pronounced renumeration?
People do mispronounce remuneration as renumeration all the time, contra some people’s denial of it here. God knows I’ve done it, and I should know better. Why do people do it? Because: The stems muner– and numer– are confusable through the oldest confusion in the historical linguistics book: Metathesis (linguistics). People are familiar with the […]
What are the precise meanings of the Greek words hyperēphanos and hyperphroneō?
Well, I’ve gone to LSJ. The definitions I find there are: ὑπερφρονέω Group I to be over-proud, have high thoughts (Aeschylus) to be proud in or of something (Herodotus) overlook, look down upon, despise (Aeschylus) (passive) to be despised (Thucydides) think slightly of (Eurypides) Group II surpass in knowledge (Aeschines); excel in wisdom (Hippocrates) ὑπερήφανος […]
Why do you love linguistics?
Here is an utterly left-field video I saw today, in the context of my day job (because my CTO is awesome). It’s knowledge management consultancy stuff, but I think it goes some of the way to explaining why I love linguistics: Cynefin Framework: Complicated, in which the relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or […]
Has there ever been an attempt to “purify” English by removing Latin/French words and reintroucing the old Germanic words (like many languages did)?
Thanks to Loren Peter Lugosch for posting the Wikipedia link. The most serious recent attempt to purify English was William Barnes. He called for the purification of English by removal of Greek, Latin and foreign influences so that it might be better understood by those without a classical education. For example, the word “photograph” (from […]
How many towns have or had the name Tripolis?
Let’s collate these responses against Tripoli (disambiguation) from Wikipedia: Tripoli, Libya Tripoli, Lebanon, the second largest city in Lebanon Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient city Tripolis ad Maeandrum, an ancient city on the borders of Lydia, Caria and Phrygia Tripolis (Pontus), an ancient city Tripoli, Iowa, a city in […]
Is French word fiancailles translated in Hebrew as Erabon?
No. No no no. The Hebrew word ’erabon “pledge” (Strong 6162. עֲרָבוֹן (erabon)) shows up in Greek as arrabōn. In fact, it doesn’t quite: the word was borrowed in Classical times, so it was likely taken from Phoenecian instead. Within Greek, arrabōn ended up meaning “engagement, betrothal”, because a betrothal is a kind of pledge. […]
Why is “40” spelled “forty” and not “fourty”?
Thank you OED: four < *fowr < Middle English fower < feower < Old English feower forty since 15th century; fourty Middle English up to 17th century < Middle English fourti (and, in parentheses, forti) < feouwerti < Old English feowertig .So the forti spelling was apparently occasional in Middle English, but not regular. This […]
Is Hebrew erabon,equal to αρραβωνας and Paul’s phrase,Cor.II,I,22″Give us arravon of spirit”means “give us new covenant, pledge with the holy spirit”?
Bauer’s Lexicon defines ἀρραβών as “payment of part of a purchase price in advance; first installment, deposit, down payment, pledge”. In time, the meaning has shifted to the kind of pledge associated with marriage: a betrothal, an engagement. (Greeks, please do not cite Ancient words with Modern inflections. It’s just confusing to those not as […]