2956: Python and Pethen (פתן) Jan 24, 2025
The ancient Greek πύθων (Pythōn) and the Hebrew פתן (pethen) both refer to serpents, the latter being a cobra, but their resemblance seems to be coincidental rather than etymological. Πύθων, the serpent slain by Apollo in Greek mythology, derives from either πυθώ (putho) meaning ‘caverns’ or ‘depths’ in reference to where monsters live, or the verb πύθειν (pýthein), meaning ‘to rot’. Python was also the original name of the famous mystical city of Delphi.
In contrast, פתן, which refers to a venomous snake in Hebrew, originates from Semitic roots linked to coiling or venom, with no connection to the Greek term. Other semitic languages use related, but different words in ancient languages, as well as in Arabic بَثَن (baṯan) for a type of viper, and definitely not a python.
2955: Hebrew Gemination with Loans Jan 23, 2025
In traditional Hebrew phonology, the six consonants ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, and ת (collectively called begedkefeth) have two distinct pronunciations: a "soft" form (spirantised, like /v/, /ɣ/, etc.) and a "hard" form (plosive, like /b/, /g/, etc.). The soft form typically appears after vowels even from prepositions of the preceding word, while the hard form appears after pauses or as consonant clusters. Crucially, geminated (doubled) begedkefet consonants are always pronounced in their hard form.
The words אבא (aba) and סבא (saba), father and grandfather respectively, feature geminated /b/ consonants, which violates the typical rules of begedkefet. Moreover, this is not the case in the word for ‘grandmother’: סבתא (savta). Normally, an ungeminated ב following a vowel would be softened to /v/ (or historically /β/). These words, clued by the telltale א at the end of them, came to Hebrew via Aramaic.
Notably, there are many Hebrew words that come from Aramaic, wherein the Aramic word also follows typical rules of gemination (pronounced āva/sāva) but when this was brought into Hebrew, it was geminated. The native Hebrew is אב (āv) and שב (sāv)—note the Hebrew convention to use the letter ס (samekh) in loanwords, and not ש, צ, or ת.
This is seen elsewhere with Aramaic words brought into Hebrew, for instance:
*ספּה → צפא (tzifa, geminated to sopa) meaning ‘sofa’ (and indeed the origin for the English).
2953: Handmade is Bad: Kunst / künstliche Jan 21, 2025
Lots is going on now with artificial intelligence, and in German it is not known as ‘artificial’ but künstliche Intelligenz, a pretty close translation for modern purposes. Historically however, this would have meant more like “intelligent intelligence” or "knowledgeable intelligence”, coming from the word können meaning ‘to know’. Further, the word Kunst translates as ‘art’ (so ‘artist’ = Künstler/in) also from this root.
Notably, English has the same relationship with ‘art’ and ‘artificial’. The progression from “skillfully made”, “handmade”, or perhaps in German “discerningly made” to come to mean ‘mock; synthetic’ is a very old one that was already present in Middle English. Old English for ‘artificial’ was ‘cræftlic’ (essentially craft +ly) also gained a more negative connotation than its sense of “handmade” though not with the sense of mimicry.
2951: Dummy Jan 19, 2025
The word ‘dummy’ has shifted from its origins as a term for a mute person to its current meanings related to mockery or imitation. In the 17th century, ‘dummy’ referred to a ‘dumb person’ (from the Latin dum meaning ‘silent’), and over time, it became associated with inanimate objects designed to resemble people, along with the derogatory sense of how ‘dumb’ is most often used now. This gave rise to modern uses, such as the ‘crash test dummy’, for instance, as a model of something, and similarly, the pacifier, often called a ‘dummy’ in British English.
2950: Crestfallen Jan 18, 2025
The term 'crestfallen' emerged in the 1580s to describe a state of dejection or being dispirited. The appeared in early English evoking the image of a defeated rooster and later horse. In the 1610s, the verb 'crestfall' was recorded, specifically referring to diseased horses, with 'crest' being used less literally than it would be for a rooster, but still denoting a head. Interestingly, the opposite term, 'crest-risen', also emerged around this time to describe a proud, energetic state, but that is now obsolete. Over time, 'crestfallen' became the go-to expression for a person in a state of emotional defeat.
2949: Cane, Cannon, and Canyon Jan 17, 2025
Looking at words like 'cane,' 'cannon,' and 'can,' one can begin to discern a wider network of doublets, all going back to the same root based on the sense of being tubes. At first glance, these, another with others like ‘channel’, ‘canal’ and ‘canyon’ which are also tubes, though uncovered, are related through Romantic sources, arriving to English through Spanish, French, and Latin, all ultimately from the Latin ‘canna’ meaning ‘reed’, and eventually ‘pipe’ in Old Italian. This is not where the word begins however, as Latin adopted it from Ancient Greek, κάννα (kánna) also ‘reed’, which itself is not entirely clear where it came from. It’s almost certain that it is from a Semitic source, like the Hebrew קנה (qané).
Read more about how this is related to ‘caramel’.
2948: Why Kiribati Doesn’t Have ‘S’? Jan 16, 2025
The country of Kiribati is pronounced /kiribas/ as is the name of the language [taetae ni Kiribati]. Despite this, however, the modified version of the Latin alphabet they use contains only 13 letters where the letter <S> is not found. The apparent irony is more a matter of coincidence than omission; the language does not natively have this sound. These islands were known as the Gilbert Islands, and ‘Kiribati’ is the closest approximation made in the polynesian language. It happens that /s/ appears as an allophone* of [t] and [k], and so given its usual lack of utility, was not included in the modified alphabet. Early versions of transcribing Gilbertese, the first text for which was the Bible, do use the letter <S>.
2947: Skid Row Jan 15, 2025
The term ‘skid row’ refers to an urban area characterised by poverty, homelessness, and social decline, though the connotations have not always been so negative. The phrase has its origins in the 19th century, when ‘skid row’ referred to a stretch of land where logs were dragged or ‘skidded’ to be shipped, particularly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. These ‘skid roads’ were rough, often leading to the outskirts of town where many people there faced poverty. By the early 20th century, it had come to signify a degraded part of town, or metaphorically a very difficult situation.
2946: Blurb Jan 14, 2025
The term 'blurb' might seem like it’s been around forever, but it’s actually a made-up word with an intriguing origin story. It was coined in 1907 by a writer named Gelett Burgess, who used it as a playful term for a brief promotional description found on book covers. Burgess famously used the word to describe a glowing endorsement from a fictional character on a book jacket. The term quickly caught on and became part of the publishing lexicon. Over time, 'blurb' expanded beyond literature to encompass any concise, persuasive text used to advertise or describe something, from products to movies. Despite its quirky start, it’s now a standard part of the language, proving that even made-up words can carve out a lasting place in our everyday vocabulary.
2945: Raisin and Prune: Why So Specific? Jan 13, 2025
There are two fruits which, when dried, go by other names, grapes → raisins, and plums → prunes [if you can think of more, please write in]. The fact that these go by different names is of linguistic note, but by no means unprecedented. Here, just like how most common types of meats are known by other names to the animal, like say ‘cow’ and ‘beef’, this is from the Norman French names; indeed, modern French for ‘grape’ is ‘raisin’, from a Latin word meaning ‘bunch of grapes’.
What’s different here though is that ‘grape’ and ‘plum’ are not Germanic. The former is from a French verb ‘graper’ meaning “to gather grapes”, and ‘plum’ was the Old English interpretation of the Latin ‘prunus’. Moreover, the Latin name for the genus of cherry trees is ‘Prunus’, such as the sweet cherry, Prunus avium, literally ‘bird’s plum tree’, but this genus also does include peaches, almonds, and of course plums.
2944: Gun: Named After a Woman Jan 12, 2025
There are a number of ‘-hilde’ ending names in Germanic cultures, of various spellings. Some have become mainstream outside of Scandinavia, like Matilda, but they are abundant in North Germanic cultures, with names like Bothilde and Hildeborg, because these names are made up of two elements that can be placed interchangeably, in this case ‘castle’ (borg) and ‘battle’ (hilde). In the case of the name, ‘Gunnhilde’, it is derived from two elements both meaning ‘battle’.
This is also the source of the English word ‘gun’, which originally denoted a cannons and other large weapons of war, as opposed to rifles or handguns like now, that was early on nicknamed the woman’s name, ‘Gunnhilda’.
2943: Murder of Crows Jan 11, 2025
The names for specific groups of animals, like a pod of whales or a congress of owls are known as terms of venery, which originated from hunting traditions in the Middle Ages. Nowadays, however, any online search for “name for group of …” will yield wild results including “a shrewdness of apes”, a “conspiracy of lemurs” and “mob of kangaroos”, many of which have no traditional roots, and would not have even been known to English speakers until quite recently, as in the latter two [names according to Business Insider].
A “murder of crows” sounds like it would fit this bill as a pretty silly name, but it’s actually been attested since the late 15th century. It’s not clear as to why, but it’s either from the myth that crows cluster around one who is about to pass away, or that they scavenge for food as part of their diet. Of course, it would be just as acceptable to use the generic, ‘flock’.
2942: Surface Analysis in Etymology
Deducing etymologies can be done with various methods to investigate a word's history, including surface analysis and more in-depth techniques such as historical, comparative, and semantic analysis. Each approach offers a different perspective on a word's transformation.
Surface analysis focuses on the observable, contemporary form of a word, examining changes in spelling, sound, and structure that are immediately visible in the language. This includes looking at affixes, phonological shifts, and morphological alterations that can be traced in a word's modern form. For example, surface analysis of the word knight would examine how the "k" is silent today, though it was once pronounced in Old English (cniht), reflecting phonological shifts over time.
In contrast, other types of etymological analysis, such as historical, comparative, and semantic analysis, delve into deeper aspects of a word's origin and evolution. Historical analysis traces the word's phonological, morphological, and semantic changes through different stages of the language, but also crucially will look at comparisons in related languages to determine wide spread changes.
2941: Non-Roman Romans Jan 9, 2025
The self-identification of Ottoman Greeks and Romani people [gypsies] as "Romans" reveals a fascinating layer of linguistic and cultural history. Ottoman Greeks commonly referred to themselves as Rhomaioi (Ῥωμαῖοι), a term that persisted even after the fall of the Byzantine Empire—which called itself the Roman Empire—and indeed after the creation of the Hellenic State in the 1820’s.
The independent Greeks began to refer to themselves as Hellenes but the remaining Ottoman Greeks did not adopt the new term, still regarding themselves as a continuation of the Roman legacy. The Ottoman authorities supported this identity by officially designating the Greek Orthodox community as the Rum Millet (Roman nation), in Turkish.
Similarly, many Romani groups in the Balkans use variations of the term Rum or Rom to describe themselves. This name likely originated from their historical presence within the Byzantine and Ottoman realms, where they identified with the dominant cultural and administrative systems.
2940: Why Vets Vet Jan 8, 2024
The English verb ‘vet’, meaning “to examine or evaluate thoroughly”, likely traces its origins to ‘veterinarian’. First attested in the 19th century, the term—found first as ‘vetting’—originally referred to the inspection of horses by veterinarians to assess their health, particularly in contexts like buying or selling livestock. Then by the end of the 19th century it was also used to refer to doctors checking people, and eventually of anyone inspecting anything thoroughly.
2939: Kinship System pt 2: Parallel Cousins Jan 7, 2025
This is the second and final set of primary kinship systems, which distinguishes cousins based not only on gender individually, but on the gender-dynamic of the generation above.
Iroquois System:
The Iroquois system distinguishes between cross and parallel cousins. These terms are relevant for later categories.
Parallel cousins are children of a parent’s same-sex sibling (e.g. a mother’s sister’s child) while cross cousins are those of a parent’s opposite-sex siblings.In this system, only cross cousins are distinguished as cousins, but parallel cousins use the same terminology as siblings.
Crow System: / Omaha System:
The Crow system and the Omaha system are virtually the same; both use a system cross- and parallel cousins, but the former is matrilineal and the latter is patrilineal. Both are found primarily in languages native to northern and western North America.
In the Crow system, parallel cousins are, like in the Iroquois system, known by the same terminology as siblings, but cross-cousins are not uniform. A mother’s brother’s children are called ‘son’ and ‘daughter’, but conversely on the father’s side cross-cousins and uncles are known as ‘father’ and likewise ‘father’s sister’ in feminine.
The opposite is true in the Omaha system where there are no generational differences on the mother’s side, i.e. just ‘mother’ and ‘mother’s brother’ even for cross-cousins, but patrilineal cross-cousins (i.e. one’s father’s sister’s children) are known as ‘niece’ and ‘nephew’.
In both systems, all uncles and aunts are not distinguished from parents, except ‘father’s sister’ and ‘mother’s brother’.
2938: Kinship Systems: Not Patrilineal nor Matrilineal
The kinship system is a particular collection of terms for one's familial relatives. There are some languages that involve different orders, but these are three of the primary six, although none have the same way of denoting cousins respectively, none are concerned with matrilineal or patrilineal, as will be seen in the next set.
Eskimo System:
The Eskimo system is primarily used in many Western and industrialized societies. It emphasizes nuclear family relationships and distinguishes between close and distant relatives. The system uses specific terms for mother, father, brother, sister, as opposed to aunt, uncle, and cousin, but does not differentiate between maternal or paternal sides for siblings or cousins.
Hawaiian System:
The Hawaiian system is one of the simplest and is commonly used in many Polynesian societies. It categorizes relatives by their generational and gender relations. There is no distinction between maternal and paternal sides of the family. For example, the terms ‘father’ and ‘uncle’ might be used interchangeably or there may only be one term to begin with, and likewise between siblings and cousins.
Sudanese System:
The Sudanese system is the most complex and features a large number of distinct terms for each kinship relationship. Each individual relative (uncle, aunt, cousin, grandson etc.) has a unique term depending on their gender, generation, and whether they are on the mother's or father's side. While kinship systems don’t usually consider married relationships, many Sudanese kinship systems will likewise have specific terms for types of in-laws, as opposed to phrases like used in English. This system is typically found in many African and Middle Eastern societies and provides detailed distinctions between all types of kin.
2937: Kinship Systems: Introduction
A kinship system is the collection of terms for one's familial relatives, though usually it does not consider in-laws. Lewis H. Morgan describes 6 major kinship systems, which in 1871 he named largely after New World languages (Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, Crow, and Omaha), and also Sudanese. That means his native English is classified under the Eskimo-kinship system, wherein the linguistic emphasis is on the nuclear family and there are no distinctions between the patrilineal and matrilineal sides.
Some systems are even simpler, including the Hawaiian system which only distinguished gender and generation, but not the nuclear family so all siblings and cousins, as well as parents and uncles/aunts are known by the same terms respectively.
These will be more explained in-depth in future posts, but as much as these are linguistic phenomena, they are ultimately more anthropological. Many places have seen change over time; English and Italian both use the Eskimo-kinship system, but Old English and Latin used the Sudanese-kinship system, where almost every single type of family member has its own term, but more on that in future.
2936: Cotton Candy Jan 4, 2025
Fairy floss was the original name of cotton candy when it debuted at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. This name now only remains as the term in Australian English, having been supplanted by candy floss in Britain, or cotton candy in the United States.
2935: Chinese Typewriters Jan 3, 2024
You may remember the difficulty with devising a method for Arabic typewriters, though it was eventually solved through various simplifications of the script. This option was not possible with Chinese, even Simplified Chinese writing, which only simplified the characters internally, but not the overall difficulty of the sheer volume of characters. All of these problems were also present for Japanese typewriters using kanji, which were the first developed for East Asia. The benefit for the Japanese is that it can be written in the katana script, which is a syllabary.
It would not work to have a keyboard of the radicals: the strokes that make up each character, for two reasons. First, there are simply too many to practically fit on a keyboard—214 in total—but the radicals can fit anywhere inside the character. This was not as problematic for Korean (Hangul), which builds its syllables both longitudinally and latitudinally because there are far fewer places where each letter goes: usually just top-left, top-right and/or bottom.
Instead, Chinese typewriters worked more like printing presses. The top 2,500 most-used characters were placed around a cylinder, and the cylinder was rotated and slid until a dial was over the chosen character, at which point the mechanism was triggered for that one in particular. Other models used a flat tray, but the process was more or less the same. In many instances, especially with the flat tray, there would be multiple trays in use that needed to be swapped out, again, making this more similar to individually finding keys for a printing press.
There was no systemization about where the characters were—Chinese characters have no comparable system to alphabetization—so in addition to memorizing all the characters in the first place, operators of these machines would essentially have to memorize where on the cylinder each one was. Given how complicated these were, and that China was not the economic power it is now, typewriters were never a common sight, even in offices, as they were in the West.