2861: Arabic Afrikaans Oct 20, 2024
The South African language of Afrikaans dates back to the 17th century as it diverged from its Dutch origins, but the first texts only arose as late as the early 19th century. While Afrikaans is a Germanic language, the earliest written samples used Arabic script. These texts were religious Islamic and were written by the Cape Malay population, one of the earliest groups to take to Afrikaans as a first language.
Arabic Afrikaans was a short-lived orthographic trend until the language’s writing system developed with Latin letters until its standardization in the 20th century. Nevertheless, over seventy Arabic Afrikaans texts remain extant, with these early writings shedding light on the robust literary and organizational skills of the Cape Muslim slave population. In comparison, the Dutch Afrikaaner group did not publish written material in Afrikaans until the late 19th century.
-Jordyn Stone
2860: A Confusing Surrender Oct 19, 2024
Diglossia—a situation that occurs when two languages exist within one community—is not that rare. Usually there is a higher and lower register, such as around Europe with Latin, Classical Arabic or even today Standard Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa, that were used as formal or official languages but not used by the common person day to day.
This kind of academic-only bilingualism was on display when the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces in WWII, despite the fact that the cultural practice of using an older, more formal version of Japanese had been on its way out already a century before this. Emperor Hirohito made an announcement broadcast on national television and radio in a form of Medieval Japanese that—while not completely unintelligible—would have been unfamiliar and difficult to understand for the typical Japanese citizen. Adding to the confusion, he never used any terms of surrender, only referring to the “conditions of the Potsdam agreement”. This meant that radio announcers had to separately clarify that Japan had surrendered.
2859: Raspberry Oct 18, 2024
‘Raspberry’, is, like ‘cranberry’, is not parsable; that is to say, ‘rasp’ is a word, but unlike blueberry, it is not clearly “rasp + berry”. In fact, it is not clear where it comes from at all. On the one hand, it could be from the Latin “vinum raspeys” referring to a type of wine, and that the berry is named after the color of the wine. It could also have a Germanic origin and indeed be related to rasp, referring either to their coarse texture or potentially the thorny branches.
2857: Final Kaf כ: Arabic transliteration in Hebrew Oct 16, 2024
Hebrew has developed certain standards when it comes to transliterating other languages, that usually avoids the problems posed from the limits of applying its writing system to other languages. For instance, certain letters are used only vocalically in transliteration (see more about that here). Another issue is that some letters change environmentally but this is not treated as such in loans. For instance, traditionally, פּ (peh) is only after a consonant, but after a vowel is פ (feh), and also the letter is different at the end of the word. Since peh is always feh at the end of the word, written in a word-final form ף (such as סוף sof ‘end’), in loans it is written as peh such as from English telescope: טלסקופ. A similar situation exists with the letter ך/כ (kaf / khaf) which also has goes from plosive to fricative after a vowel, and it has a word-final form.
In loan words from most languages, the letter ק (koof) is used for the /k/ sound no matter the spelling (note ‘quiche’: קיש), even going back to ancient loan words like קיסר (kesar) for ‘Caesar’. Despite the fact that in traditional Hebrew ק (koof) represents the gutural* /q/, but it does have have the fricative form like כ (caf) does. However, Arabic does have both a /k/ and /q/, unlike say Latin or English, so in transliterating those words, the כ (caf) must be used. This is why a word like הי טק ‘high tech’ or לינק ‘link’ (online) taken directly from English use a ק (koof). Arabic, which does allow /k/ or /x/ after a vowel as in תאריך (tarikh) ‘calendar date’, but also has a /q/ as seen in the Hebrew אופק (ofeq) ‘horizon’ and אפרסק (afarseq) ‘peach’. While it isn’t loaned into Hebrew, the term שמכ (shemek) meaning ‘your name’ (masculine) is spelt with the standard כ (caf) form for clarity.
That said, while the spelling from Arabic is preserved, the distinction in Modern Hebrew of using /q/ barely exists, but even the choice between two letters when they make the same sound can be important for a sense of etymological clarity, which English does too, arguably to a fault.
*This is just colloquialism in English; it is a uvular consonant.
2856: Beheld and Beholden Oct 15, 2024
Behold has two possible participial forms: beheld and beholden. While the former is used as a past tense, but as with other words in English (see: hanged-hung) there is a semantic difference between the two, with ‘beheld’ denoting looking or regarding, like ‘behold’ does, but ‘beholden’ meaning ‘obliged’ is not acting the same way. You might think this was a shift over time of the whole word, but really ‘beholden’ is acting more in line with the root ‘hold’. The prefix be- which was more productive in Old English, which changed the meaning to something extended temporally (beholden = held continuously) but also metaphorically (behold/beheld = held in view). In older forms of English as a result, ‘beheld’ and ‘beholden’ etc. could be used interchangeably, but when the prefix be- became less productive, the meanings narrowed and diverged.
2855: The Rise of ‘Human’ Oct 14, 2024
The word ‘human’ is very common today and is increasingly used in a generic like ‘person’ instead of its previous relegation to the field of science. It is easy to see why it replaced ‘man’, with ‘humankind’ rising to similar levels as ‘mankind’ in recent decades, and ‘mankind’ on a precipitous decline, but also ‘human’ is beginning to be interchanged with ‘person’ outside of form settings. The word in particular exploded in popularity over man starting in the early 1960’s and especially in the next decade, and is now seems to be losing its academic connotations.
Somewhat ironically, ‘man’ in English was not always gendered, but later replaced the word ‘wer’. German as well now had the word ‘Mann’ (man; husband) but uses ‘man’ as the pronoun ‘one’, and far more commonly than in English wherein most people opt for the 2ⁿᵈ person ‘you’ (acting like 3ʳᵈ person). Meanwhile, ‘human’ comes from the same Latin root as ‘homem’, ‘homme’, and hombre (in Portuguese, French, and Spanish) for ‘a man’.
2854: Problems with S- (part 2): Germanic Oct 13, 2024
From the Atlantic coast of Portugal all the way through to much of Central Europe, you will not find many native words beginning with [sp] or [st], or even [sk] sounds. This was explored yesterday in Romance languages. In German, the sounds ST and SP are not possible, and realized as [ʃt] and [ʃp] (like SH-p/t) even though the spelling would indicate otherwise. Technically, SK is also not really possible, and morphed into Sch [ʃ] (just SH-). This is true at the start of syllables, not just words. All of this is also true of Yiddish although that uses a different writing system.
But otherwise it does not really look like other Germanic languages struggle with this; after all English and, say, Afrikaans are replete with words beginning with S+ -T, -P, or -K. While these will not have the same difficulty exactly, things are not so simple.
In English, the stops after S are referred to as being clear, meaning that they are not denoted as having much aspiration (as would be found if it was the first sound of a word) nor are they glottalized at all as might happen at the end. For clarity, say a word like ‘pop’ or ‘tot’ and realize that the first consonant doesn’t sound exactly like the second. The trouble with these clear plosives is that they also are not clearly voiced, and so while in the other languages looked at here the S has changes, in English the other vowels change. For instance, it is not clear that the word ‘stop’ is pronounced [stɒp] or voiced as [sdɒp] (with a [d]).
This is taken to a further extreme in Afrikaans, where these stops are losing voicing entirely, except in between vowels, in a system that closer resembles tones, where the sounds are differentiated by pitch. Admittedly this is not a problem only for plosives following S.
You can read more about what’s going on in Afrikaans (not from Word Facts): here.
2853: Why So Many Spanish Words start 'Es-'? (pt. 1)12, 2024
In Western European Romance languages, excluding Italian, there is always an E- in front of S+consonant, like in Spanish ‘estoy’ (‘I am’) that used to be ‘sto’, and just look at these English cognates in Spanish: school → escuela (French: école), special → especial though not actually in ‘Español’ (‘Spanish’) which comes from ‘Hispania’. ‘Emerald’ is ‘esmeralda’ in Spanish, from ‘smaragdus’ in Latin, but French words not only gained the E like with Spanish and Portuguese, but also dropped the S, hence where English got it.
This occurs in words that developed from Latin beginning in SP, ST, and SC [sk]—or in other words <S> + [unvoiced plosive]—and the vowel [e] was added for phonetic ease to not have to begin a vowel this way.
While this sound combination may not look so difficult, especially from an English speaking background, keep in mind, Romance languages tend to articulate the /s/ sound further back than in Germanic languages (see more [s̠]) and these sorts of slight differences will culminate in very large changes over whole words.
There will be more on this phenomenon in Germanic languages, including English, in the post tomorrow.
2851: How Long are Long Vowels? Oct 10, 2024
If you were operating a telegraph, you would need to distinguish from dots (*) and dashes (—), (and to time empty spacing) given that ambiguity in any of these lengths would lead to confusion and unintelligibility. This means that the relative length of a dot to a dash is standardly 1:3. A similar problem emerges in languages with short and long sounds.
In some languages, this is somewhat foolproof, because in some languages, vowel length for instance is interdependent with the surrounding sounds. In Swedish and pre-Modern Hebrew* for instance, a long consonant is always preceded by a short vowel and vice versa. Meanwhile, in languages like Estonian and Arabic, the length of any consonant or vowel is an independent feature for the most part.
Languages with phonemic vowel length or consonant length most commonly see a ratio of 1:2 comparing how much time a short or long vowel is released. Some exceptions exist, like Finnish which is 1:3, so you might expect that other languages where the relative lengths of consonants and vowels are independent, to also be long. Actually in Arabic, the ratios can still be 1:2 or even closer because the average length for long vowels (for all languages, really) depends to an extend on the vowel in question with high-vowels like /i:/ usually being shorter. In Estonian too, with short, long, and overlong vowels, the ratio is somewhere like 1:2:4 or even 1:2:5.
*In Hebrew, this principle is often undermined by elision that instead forces a long consonant after a long vowel.
2850: Why Croatian Catholics Never Used Latin Oct 9, 2024
One of the defining factors of pre-modern Europe and especially the Catholic church was the proliferation of Latin. Through into the Early Modern period, it was a lingua franca used by all people for academic and other formal writings or procedures. It was even the official language of Hungary into the 19th century.
Croatia used it as well in many of those areas, however, it was the only Catholic region permitted to not use Latin for the liturgy before the 20th century. Instead they used Church Slavonic, that in Eastern Orthodox regions held similar sway to Latin to the West.
Pope Innocent IV (AD 1195 –1254) allowed the Croatians to use Church Slavonic as written in the Glagolitic script, a combination used elsewhere exclusively by the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is especially strange given that Latin was the sole official language of much of what is now Croatia until 1847, so while it was used in legal and academic settings, religious services were conducted in Slavonic. Both were considered dead languages even at the time, but the fact that Church Slavonic was permitted as the only exception to Latin in the Catholic Church was a concession to them as a key borderland territory close to the Italian peninsula that its potential downfall posed a real risk to Rome.
2849: Short, Long, and Overlong Consonants Oct 8, 2024
Usually, the distinction between the consonants [b, d, g] and [p, t, k] is one of voicing, which is to say whether the larynx (vocal chords) are engaged or not, but this is not true in Estonian orthography. Estonian, which has both phonemic vowel- and consonant length, uses [b, d, g] for the short consonants, and [p, t, k] for the long, aka geminated consonants. This is only true of those plosives, not other consonants.
Where many languages have merely short and long consonants—or like English, no meaningful difference in length at all—Estonian has 3 categories. In the case of overlong consonants so, the spelling is duplicated, i.e. [pp, tt, kk]. For example,
kabi (‘hoof’) is actually pronounced /kɑpi/ (short). Meanwhile
Kapi (of the wardrobe) /kɑpːi/ (long) in the genitive singular is kappi pronounced /kɑpːːi/ (overlong) in the illative case, meaning “inside the wardrobe”.
Note that Estonian also has 3 levels of phonemic vowel length, with for instance all single-syllable words having an overlong vowel.
2848: Box: From Knotted Shrub to any Rectangle Oct 7, 2024
Boxwood is quite a hardy wood, despite the fact that it comes from an evergreen shrub, so due to its strength but size limitations, it is used in small strips to reinforce pieces, in a process known as ‘boxing’. While it would be impractical for making large boxes, it seems to be the origin of the word ‘box’ from Latin pyxis (‘medicine box’) likely related to the Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís) for ‘boxwood’. This has not led to a number of words that are now only distantly related in meaning, like the Irish ‘piseog’ for ‘evil curse’ from the original Latin meaning, or indeed the sport of ‘boxing’, or the more generic use seen in Afrikaans ‘bos’ meaning ‘bush; shrub’ of all types, hence ‘rooibos’ (red bush).
In English, despite the fact that the root possibly meant ‘to bend’ in reference to the shrubbery branches, it can now be used for any sort of rectangle or rectangular prison, real or imagined. Insofar as it can be used generically to refer to a rectangle particularly to enclose something, this was reinforced by the shrub being one of many frequently used for acting as a kind of fence or barrier, because it is very sturdy.
2847: More than One Way to Skin a Cat Oct 6, 2024
The phrase “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” is pretty gruesome sounding, prompting some like PETA to put forward a variation (“...feed a cat”) but beyond that it also hard to imagine a context for it. In truth, while the exact nature of the phrase is uncertain, all the evidence would suggest it was literal in its conception. From the 17th and 18th centuries, there are a number of other related phrases, like “there are more ways to kill a dog than hanging” (1678). Likewise, the phrase in question was only one of many cat-related phrases of this type, including also more blunt phrases, and also with a second half including some actual means, more as just a template than a definitive phrase.
This has always meant “there is more than one solution to the problem” but Mark Twain wrote in 1889 “she was wise, subtle, and knew more than one way to skin a cat”, meaning simply that she was resourceful.
Researching this, are some myths out there that the usage has to do with actual cases of animal cruelty and in particular with records from 1832 House of Commons discussion on a bill concerning animal cruelty, but this instance could not be the origin as the phrase is known to predate it by more than a century.
2846: Danube is just generic for water Oct 5, 2024
Across the world, especially where there have been varied people groups living in the same place land one after another, there will be tautological place names, where each element in the name ends up being the same thing, like the famous River Avon meaning “river river”, and it is a similar story with the River Danube. While today we are used to it simply as the name for a major European river, it comes from a very common root found around many Indo-European languages meaning ‘river’ from the original sense of ‘running’.
2845: more than one way to skin a cat Oct 4, 2024
The phrase "there's more than one way to skin a cat" has a somewhat murky origin, but it is commonly understood to express the idea that there are multiple methods to achieve a goal. The earliest recorded use of the phrase dates back to the early 19th century, with one notable instance in the 1840s.
In the mid-19th century, the phrase appeared in print in various contexts, including literature and newspapers. One significant instance was in the 1840 edition of "The Sporting Magazine," which used it to illustrate the notion of different strategies for achieving success in hunting. This context suggested a pragmatic approach to problem-solving, emphasizing versatility and creativity in finding solutions.
Interestingly, the phrase also made an appearance in discussions surrounding animal cruelty in the House of Commons in 1831. During debates over proposed legislation to protect animals from inhumane treatment, members of Parliament used the expression to underscore the varied methods people employed in their treatment of animals. Here, it took on a more serious tone, pointing to the need for humane practices, specifically whether the animal in question is alive or not.
2844: Nog & Noggin Oct 3, 2024
The term ‘noggin’ has its origins in the early 17th century, originally referring to a small wooden cup or mug used for serving alcohol, particularly beer, with the main surviving use being in ‘eggnog’. This comes from the Old English word ‘nogg’, meaning a small vessel. As these wooden mugs became common in social settings, the term ‘noggin’ evolved to encompass both the container and its contents, fostering a connection between the beverage and the head, leading to its use as slang for the head itself by the 18th century.
2843: Defining Bodies of Water Oct 2, 2024
There are numerous names for different marine physical features that are not meaningfully different in any consistent way. Looking at the definition of a ‘cove’ and a ‘bay’, both are recesses of water usually sheltered by mountains, though in a few examples, like the Bay of Bengal, Hudson Bay, and Bay of Biscay, these are on the scale of seas or gulfs and are only called bays by convention.
Seas and gulfs meanwhile also don’t have any meaningful distinctions. While many definitions will say something to the effect of “a large body of water enclosed on 3 sides” and with a gulf usually distinguished as having a narrower opening, this does not hold up to examples. Some seas are enclosed entirely, like the Caspian and Aral Seas, some are enclosed on fewer than 3 like the Irish or North Seas, and some gulfs have no narrow point like the Gulf of Mexico. Likewise, comparing the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, their respective widest points are only 1 mile different (221 vs 200 mi) and their narrowest points are each ~30 miles. Given that some coves are bays except when bays are gulfs, gulfs are not meaningfully distinguished from seas, and many seas are not clearly distinguished from being part of the ocean with a chokepoint (e.g. Beaufort, Caribbean, and Arabian Seas) or otherwise distinguished from straits, the nomenclature boils down only to convention.
2842: Tinker and Beekeeper Oct 1, 2024
To tinker can refer to fixing up, or in a more old fashioned sense, a tinker was someone who either as a vagrant or as part of an itinerant people (like the Romani or especially Irish Travelers) made a living doing odd jobs place to place, but particularly in metal work. The original sense of the word was neither of these, but it was closer latter sense, in some ways, despite it being recognized now as an ethnic slur. The word originates from ‘tin’ plus an Old English suffix ‘-cere’ meaning ‘making; maintaining’, referring to a smith of tin, or other soft metals.
This suffix is no longer productive, but is also see seen in the Old English ‘bēocere’ meaning ‘beekeeper’ which could have evolved as ‘*beeker’ but was influenced by ‘-keep’ in the sense of ‘to maintain’ as well.
2841: Borrowing from the Genitive Form Sep 30, 2024
The Modern Hebrew word for notebook, פנקס (pinkas) is from an Ancient Greek πίναξ (pínax) where not only is the vowel in a different place, but /ks/ sound which in Greek is represented by one sound is here looks as if it is parsed into two. Unlike in English letter X however, or for that matter in Hebrew with the letter צ (ts), where they do not change forms with add suffixes, in Ancient Greek suffixation like applying the genitive singular [possessive case], turning the word into πίνακος (pínakos) will modify the ending of the word. It is possible, if not likely, that the Hebrew came not from the nominative singular [subject case], but from another declination. This sort of thing is extremely unusual—across languages borrowings almost always derive from the nominative form of a noun—but the situation is not entirely unheard of. It is also possible that the word’s vowel position changed only after being adopted into Hebrew via metathesis, but the evidence available does not make this conclusive.
2840: Great Scott Sep 29, 2024
The phrase "Great Scott", along with a number of other now-dated terms of astonishment, mirrors the normal euphemistic religious exclamations / swears, but it’s not entirely clear. It is likely, to some extent at least, that the origins may lie in a phonetic evolution from the German phrase "grüß Gott," meaning "great God." This transition reflects the historical presence of German immigrants in the United States, particularly during the 19th century. Alternatively, some scholars trace its use back to the American Civil War, specifically around General Winfield Scott who was astonishingly fat. This latter explanation is far less, likely, but may have assisted to bridge the gaps from the German immigrants bringing the phrase into mainstream English.