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Tag: linguistics
Name Archaeology
I have what might be good news for prospective parents looking to name their child. There are fewer total names in the world than you might think.
For example, here is an incomplete list of names that mean “John”:
- John
- Ian
- Evan
- Shane
- Sean or Shawn
- Jan or Yan
- Johan or Johann or Yohann
- Giovanni or Yovanny
- Ivan
- Juan
- Jean (male French name)
- Jane
- Jan
- Janet
- Janice
- Janelle
- Jeanne (female French name)
- Juana
- Jana
- Seana or Shawna
- Joanne or Joanna? Needs some looking into.
- Eva
- Evelyn or Evalynn?
And then there are the last names, everything from Johnson to Ivanova.
Here are some derivations of Mary:
- Mary
- Mara
- Maria
- Anne-Marie
- Marianne
- Marion
- Polly (a British nickname for Mary, apparently derived from a young child’s attempt to say it)
Margaret:
- Margaret
- Maggie
- Greta
- Gretchen (-chen is a German diminutive)
- Gretel
Elizabeth:
“Elizabeth, Betty, Betsey and Bess/all went together to seek a bird’s nest./They found one, with five eggs in it,/all took one, and left four in it.”
And that’s not counting Liz, Lizzie, Lisa, Liza, Elspeth, etc.
Derivations of Augustus, a Latin word meaning “great”:
-
- Augustus
- Gus (or, in the Bertie Wooster books, “Gussie.” For a man. I know.
- August
- Agus (an Indonesian name — via Holland?)
All that to say, to my delight I recently discovered the origin of another popular name, Louis.
Apparently, Louis, a traditional name for kings of France, is derived from Clovis, a Frankish king in the 400s – 500s, who converted to Christianity and expanded his territory so greatly that he may be properly said to be the first king of France.
So, we have derivations of Clovis:
-
- Louise
- Lewis
- Lou
- Louie-Louie!
- Louise
- Louisa
- Luanne?
- Lula? Tallula?
Imagine finding out that your name goes all the way back to the 400s. Or the first century (John). Or the beginning of the race (Adam).
Greek Word of the Day: Anasta
The Septuagint translation of Isaiah 11:10 references the root of Jesse, the one who “rises up to rule the nations; nations will put their hope in him, and his repose will be honor.” The Septuagint has anistamenos for “rise,” and this is reflected in Romans 15:8 – 12 where Paul quotes Isaiah and refers to the Messiah who “arises” (anistamenos) and is both the ruler and the hope of the gentiles. This same concept is also present in Psalm 82:8, where Yahweh “rises” (anasta in the Septuagint) to judge the earth and inherit the nations. As we will see below, this language closely resembles the ascension language of Paul in Ephesians.
Joel Muddamalle, The Unseen Battle, p. 113
So, in this context, the word “rise” or “rise up” implies a warrior/king rousing himself to battle and conquering (in this case, conquering the gods of the nations). Like the word “inheritance,” it’s a clue that the Scripture is talking about which god has legal rights to a geographical area or a group of people: the unseen battle.
I believe it is also linked to the name Anastasia, which means resurrection.
Not sure why, but it feels very appropriate to me that the word for resurrection should have four or five syllables.
A Fun Moment
I show my Japanese friends a donkey. They are quite taken with how cute it is.
Me: What do you call this animal?
Japanese friends (in unison): Don-kee!
Me: No, I mean what is it in Japanese?
Them: Oh. We don’t have these in Japan.
Lunes Latin: Origin of the Word April
Venus was the spirit of desire, mating, fertility; sacred to her was April, the month of opening buds (“aperire“).
–Caesar and Christ, by Will Durant, p. 61
Aperire means “to open” in Latin.
The Horse and Humanity: A Short Love Story
Behold, the following reconstructed Proto-Indo-European words:
- ekwo- … “horse” equus (Latin), equestrian (English) Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European ōku-, “swift.”
- demə- … “to force,” especially in the sense of “to tame horses.”
- Derivatives: daunt, indomitable, tame
- kwel– … “to revolve, move around; herd stock.”
- Derivatives: Latin colere, to till, cultivate, inhabit; colonus, farmer. Hence, cult, cultivate, culture, colony, colonize.
- Greek telos (from the suffixed form kwel–es), completion of a cycle, consummation, end result. Hence, talisman, teleology, leutospore.
- kw(e)-kwl-o (suffixed reduplicated form of kwel) … “wheel, circle.”
- Derivatives: Old English hwēol, hweogol. Hence, wheel.
- Greek kuklos “wheel” and Latin circulus, “circle.” Hence, circle, cycle, cyclone, etc.
- Sanskrit chakram, “circle or wheel.” Hence, chakra.
- wegh- … “to go or transport in a vehicle” Derivative: wagon
“Chariot racing for sport and ritual purposes was prominent in the culture of many early Indo-European peoples, such as the Indo-Iranians, Greeks, and Irish.”
source: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, rev. & ed. by Calvert Watkins, pp. xxviii – xxix and 46
Yes indeed, the Indo-Europeans loved their horses.
But they are not the only ones.
The Mongolians love their horses too. And let’s not forget the American Plains Indians. As soon as horses became available to them, some of them (notably the Lakota) re-structured their entire society around them, and began doing amazing things that the Europeans had never dreamt of (at least, not for many generations), such as hanging by their legs off the side of the horse to shoot a moving target with a bow.
Basically, horses are cool and beautiful, and also extremely demanding and high-maintenance. People tend to like them, but bear in mind that you do have to make them the focus of your entire life if you are going to do anything at all with them.
The “Parthian shot.” The Parthians were a people related to the Scythians and other horse-riding groups of Central Asia. That conical hat, too, is found among the Scythians, a people who live in what is presumed to be the Indo-European homeland.
Favorite Word: Behold!
English: Behold! (Archaic, but still understood)
Latin: Ecce! (takes the Nominative)
French: Voila!
Indonesian: Ini dia or Itu dia (“This is it!”)
If you speak another language and know how to say “behold” in that language, leave it in the comments.
Why Jupiter is not just another name for Zeus
Among these original national gods Jupiter or Jove was the favorite … In the early centuries of Rome he was still a half-impersonal force–the bright expanse of the sky, the light of the sun and moon, a bolt of thunder, or (as Jupiter Pluvius) a shower of fertilizing rain; even Virgil and Horace occasionally use “Jove” as a synonym for rain or sky. In time of drought the richest ladies of Rome walked in barefoot procession up the Capitoline hill to the Temple of Jupiter Tonans–Jove the Thunderer–to pray for rain. Probably his name was a corruption of Diuspater, or Diespiter, Father of the Sky.
–Caesar and Christ, by Will Durant, p. 61
… and when the Romans encountered Zeus, they said, “Hmm, seems to be Jupiter.”
It’s Time Again for my Favorite Latin Christmas Carol
Adeste fideles, laeti triumphantes
“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant”
Venite, venite in Bethlehem
“Come, come into Bethlehem”
Natum videte, regem angelorum
“Born see, the king of angels”
Venite adoremus [3x]
“O come, let us adore him” [3x]
Dominum
“The Lord”
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine
“God from God, light from light” *(these are direct objects, so the subject and verb are coming up)
Gestant puellae viscera
“A girls’ innards carry” (the subject and verb, and by far my favorite line)
Deum verum
“True God” (and still the direct object)
genitum non factum
“Begotten, not made”
Refrain: Venite adoremus, Dominum “O come, let us adore/The Lord”
Cantet nunc io, chorus angelorum
“Now sings it, the chorus of angels”
Cantet nunc aula caelestium
“Now the heavenly court sings”
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo
“Glory, glory to God in the highest”
Refrain: “O come, let us adore/The Lord”
Ergo qui natus die hodierna
“Therefore, who is born on the day of today”
Jesu, tibi sit gloria
“Jesus, to you be glory”
Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum
“Word of the eternal Father made flesh”
Refrain
See how the Latin is actually more direct/efficient than the English? Kind of shockingly so?
I think because the original Latin version had so many syllables, to translate the lines into English, additional words had to be added, and sometimes even new ideas such as “Yea, Lord, we greet thee,” which is how the fourth verse begins in English and is one of my favorite lines in that version.
Quote: Your Name Here
“Do you not have a name?” Prism asked.
“No name. I refuse. You should too. … So long as you answer to a name people can make you do things. You write your name down on a piece of paper and suddenly you have obligations. They say Prism go here, Prism go there, and you have to, because you answer to your name.”
Everything Has A Shape, pp. 129 – 130
