2230: Reborrowing Jan 22, 2021
Reborrowing is a process by which a word that is adopted into one language has a derivative that is borrowed back. A few examples are:
•'Anime' (English) from Japanese アニメ (anime) from the 'animation' (English)
•'Cookie' (Dutch) i.e. online information from English 'cookie' from 'koekje' (Dutch)
•Modern Hebrew תכלס [(tachles) 'directly'] from Yiddish תכלית [(tachlis) 'serious business'] from Hebrew תכלית [(tachlith) purpose]
•There is even double borrowing in the case of the English 'redingote' from French 'redingote' from English 'riding coat' from French 'cotte'.
These are usually doublets, that is to say a pair of words with identical origins and different meanings, but also included this would be borrowing calques, i.e. literal translations, such as
ready-to-wear → French prêt-à-porter (1951) → English prêt-à-porter (1957).
2229: clog Jan 21, 2021
A clog today refers to any sort of block, and much like with ‘block’ itself, its origins are essentially wooden. Although the precise root of ‘clog’ is unknown, it used to denote a mass of wood, related to the word ‘log’ and Norwegian ‘klugu’ (knotted wood). The word, once also used to denote large jewelry or testes only retains any connection to wood in the case of the shoes, clogs.
2228: scandal & slander Jan 20, 2021
Although the overall meaning has generalized, the word 'scandal' has always been negative, originally from Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon) referring to a trap lain for an enemy to fall into. In that sense, it is also related to the Latin 'scandere' (to climb) but it also referred to something that causes a moral fall. In Ecclesiastical Latin 'scandalum' went from meaning something which causes malfeasance to something causing discreditation, though bear in mind this may not have only been cultural but also influenced from words like the Old English 'scand' (disgrace). Moreover, the word 'slander' is related via the Old French 'esclandre' (scandalous statement) with the L added somewhat curiously.
2227: Aubergine vs. Eggplant (& Why) Jan 19, 2021
Around the anglophone world, between 'eggplant' and 'aubergine', only the Brits and Irishmen favor the latter. First off, the name 'eggplant' comes as a description of the white variety [see photo], and not the more popular purple ones of today, though this same pattern is also found in other languages like Icelandic with 'eggaldin' or Welsh 'planhigyn ŵy'. Outside of that, the reason South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia also use 'eggplant' is that this term is slightly older than 'aubergine', with the written first record in the US from 1763. Now, the white variety are called 'garden eggs'. 'Aubergine' is not only popular in the UK but also much of Western Europe like in French and German because the more diverse varieties from Southeast Asia (brought via the Middle East), using the Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān) or literally 'the eggplant', originally from the Sanskrit वातिगगम (vātiga-gama) or 'plant that curls in wind'. The Arabic 'al-' turns to 'au-' in French, which is fairly typical. Other English speaking areas especially in Southeast Asia use the word 'brinjal'.
2226: balk Jan 18, 2021
The word 'block' these days pretty obviously means 'keep from moving', originally from a physical source, but there are other words like that too. 'Balk' for instance originally referred to a partition, or especially unplowed land on a field. The sense of being blocked by an obstacle then led to the modern sense of to make a blunder or to hesitate. It is even related to 'balcony', originally from the sense of 'beam', as was the case with 'block'.
2225: block Jan 17, 2021
The original sense for a block was that of a large, solid piece of wood. This was only generalized in the late Middle Ages to mean 'any solid piece', originally with the senses of an executioner's block, and then later a stump from which to sell slaves. Other Germanic languages have related words connoting trees or large planks of wood, but the English block eventually related to anything solid, usually prismatic etc. to the point as a verb (or as a noun in 'blockade') it came to mean 'prevented from moving'. This is also related to bloc, which in Old French simply meant 'log', but now in English means a solid group, especially referring to political entities.
2224: Lunate Sigma Jan 16, 2021
The Greek letter sigma is special in its design in a number of ways. It is the only to have 3 forms: Σ, σ, and ς (the last only found at the end of words), but even these are not the only way it's looked. The Lunate Sigma used in Greek of the Hellenistic period, was written in a C-like shape, now known as the Lunate Sigma (uppercase Ϲ, lowercase ϲ) called as such in reference to the Moon. This should not be confused for the Latin letter C/c. It only has two forms, laking the distinct word-final form that is found today. These days, it is mostly found in religious contexts or other decorative fonts.
2223: How a Scrivinal Error Changed a Word's Pronunciation Jan 15, 2021
Spelling is not particularly connected to pronunciation, as is obvious to anyone who's looked at English even a minute or two. It has, however, made an impact on those of adopted words over the years. For instance, another name for a 'gharial'—a type of Indian crocodile—is a 'gavial'. It is not because V and R have much to do with each other phonetically, but rather that 'gavial' emerged simply from a scrivinal error. The word in Hindi is 'ghaṛiyāl' but it is believed that the R became a V when a French scribe at the time wrote it wrong.
2222: How 'Issue' Became a *Problem* Jan 14, 2021
The word 'issue' is gradually taking on more negative connotations from simply meaning 'topic of concern' to 'matter of difficulty'. This process is nothing new however, as seen in the word 'problem'. There are still neutral senses of that word such as in 'math problem' (some people may see that as personally negative but that feeling is extralinguistic). Historically, the word meant anything put forth as a matter of discussion, and its constituent elements 'pro-' (forward) '*-blem' (from Greek 'ballein' meaning 'throw') is also related to 'ballet', 'ballistics', and 'symbol'. In a semantic sense, it is also related even to 'promise' insofar as that comes from the same meaning in Latin 'pro-' and 'mittere' (to send; throw) or in other words something that was sent out beforehand.
2221: What 'Waffle' Can Teach about Phonology Jan 13, 2020
The word 'waffles' can actually teach a fair amount about general phonological principles. First off, while it is from a Germanic root meaning 'honeycomb' (cf. German 'Wabe') and ultimately related to 'weave, it is also related to the word 'wafer' and 'goffer': two other dessert foods, directly related. This shows the relation as is often found between [l] and [r], but also [g] and [w], which often shift in Germanic languages, but elsewhere too as seen in the French 'gaufre' (wafer). [g], as a voiced velar consonant, often does assimilate to an approximant (a consonant with certain vocalic qualities like [w]) or to a palatal one like [j] such as in the Old English 'geolu' turning into 'yellow'.
As a side-note, 'waffle' is actually not related to the verb 'waffle', as in "to talk foolish", usually in a frenetic way which is related to the word 'wave' and 'waft', relating to one's hand-gestures.
2220: House of Orange: Not from the Color Jan 12, 2021
The old Dutch Republic flag had an orange stripe, and bred orange carrots to celebrate the House of Orange. In truth, the color, named for the fruit, has nothing to do with this dynasty. Originally beginning in southern France known in Provençal Occitan as 'Aurenja', this group was actually took the name from a settlement named after a Celtic deity, Arausio. Spiritually, this was connected with water, so if anything the color associated with the House of Orange could be blue. That said, even Protestantism is often associated with the color orange because of the support from this Dutch principality in the religious wars of the time.
2219: Finnish Borrowing from Itself—Jan 11, 2021
Finnish is known for taking on lots of loan words, but it has even loaned some of its own, sort of. On the water by Finland’s capital lies Iso Huopalahti (felt bay), which was earlier Haapalaksi, with ‘-laksi’ being an older form of ‘lahti’ and ‘haapa’ means ‘aspen’. Note that both ‘huopa’ (felt) and ‘haapa’ (aspen) both borrow from Germanic roots for those words. While changing a name from Huopalahti to Haapalaksi might not seem so crazy, the reason for this comes from the Swedish name ‘Hoplax’—the area is bilingual—which comes from ‘Haapalaksi’. This means that Huopalahti [Finnish] comes from Hoplax [Swedish, a Germanic language], from Haapalaksi [Finnish] ultimately from another Germanic word, though this last point is not strictly related. This does happen in other languages too, such as the French ‘biftèque’, a direct loan of the English ‘beefsteak’, with ‘beef’ once replacing the (Old) English ‘cū‘ (cow).
2218: neat Jan 10, 2021
The word ‘neat’ today usually refers to something being tidy, orderly, or even efficient, but this is not how it started. It comes from Latin ‘nitidus’ meaning ‘shine’. Indeed, up until the 16th century the word ‘neat’ meant ‘bright’, though that sense is now lost here but still found in the less common adjective ‘nitid’. It is also a doublet of the adjective ‘net’ as in ‘net profit’, both having the sense of ‘pure; distilled; uncluttered’ similar to describing an alcoholic drink without ice. This is also related to the German ‘nett’ meaning ‘nice’,
2217: 'piping' hot Jan 9, 2021
The phrase 'piping hot' is pretty common, but the pipes in question might not be immediately evident. This is probably not how the word would be used today, but the phrase is attested since the 14th century from Chaucer:
He sente hir pyment meeth and spiced ale
And wafres pipyng hoot out of the glede.
[He sent her sweetened mead and well-spiced ale
And waffles piping hot out of the fire]
It is generally understood these days that the 'piping' in question is in reference to a sizzling or boiling sound from cooking likened to musical pipes.
2216: Hebrew Causative Jan 8, 2020
In English, there are intensive adverbs or other adjuncts like 'very', 'well' and in the UK, 'bloody' all merely adding emphasis. In other languages, the intensive usually distinguishes the root meaning of a word, effectively the causative changes the intransitivity. For instance, the phrase הוא בא means "he comes" but in the causative form הוא מביא means "he brings" (i.e. he caused something else to 'come'). Hebrew uses many morphosyntactic systems in order to create meaning in verb stems and other prefixes are added for other tenses/aspects.
2215: Periphrastic Utility Jan 7, 2021
To update slightly the post on periphrasis from 2018, there can be linguistically significant benefits of using seemingly unnecessary words beyond just style. To recap, periphrastic language is when one uses separate words to express a grammatical relationship, such as 'did go' rather than 'went'. These are often, though by no means always with auxiliary verbs, but consider the exception with "I was blamed" with "I received the blame", which affects the grammar beyond simply intensity. Yiddish also uses periphrasis to express speed or urgency such as כאפן א קוק (khop a kuk), literally 'catch a look', or טאן א קוק (ton a kuk), literally 'do a look' meaning 'looked'.
2214: Delexical or 'Light' Verbs Jan 6, 2021
There are plenty of verbs that people use that are at best semantically incomplete, such as 'take' in "to take a bath" or "to take a test". These and many others are known as light verbs, delexical verbs, or vector verbs. These verbs essentially exist as they are used to complement an object, which is usually a noun. 'Do' and 'have' can fit into this category, but this usage should not be thought of as auxiliary, as the function of indicating grammatical aspect is different.
2213: pharaoh Jan 5, 2021
Although we might think of 'pharaoh' as a title that is otherwise sort of meaningless like 'king' or 'earl'—though in truth even though have an etymological reason—natively it made sense. 'Pharaoh' instead comes to English from the Hebrew פרעה (parōh) and even at this point it was basically meaningless, though some connect it with פרע meaning '(to) pay'. In Egyptian, the word was "pr ꜥꜣ" (estimated as 'par-aa') meaning literally 'big palace'. Indeed, the word originally literally referred to the residence, and not the person, but much like if someone were to say "news from the White House" to refer to the president of the USA, this got adopted as the general term for the ruler.
2212: cushy and cushion Jan 4, 2021
'Cushy' and 'cushion', while they look similar, sound similar, and have an obvious overlap in the meaning related to comfort, aren’t related. 'Cushy' comes from Persian 'ḵuš' meaning 'pleasure', and only entered English through the period of British control of India. 'Cushion', meanwhile, comes from the Latin word for 'hip', 'coxa', as a reference to specifically a seat-cushion. Other types of cushions, such as a 'cubital' likewise comes from the name for another part of the body, the elbow', from 'cubitus', also the origin of the measurement 'cubit', i.e. the length of a forearm.
2211: Mythical Explanations behind the Ionian Sea Jan 3, 2021
Ionia is an ancient region of Greek people, and some might assume that the Ionian Sea is connected to this in some way, but this is not necessarily true. The etymology for the name of the sea is actually unclear, especially since the region of Ionia was in modern day Turkey (Anatolia specifically) and other islands in the Aegean Sea, on the opposite side of Greek to the Ionian Sea. Even ancient historians and writers including Aeschylus were unsure about this, and gave mythical explanations including the idea that the mythical figure Io swam across it, or that the Ionians themselves had originally migrated from there, though this is unclear. Another mythical idea is that it is named for Ionius, whose father also has a mythical etymology associated with him (i.e. Adrias and the Adriatic Sea) but this is also not considered true.